Interesting, no? I saw this patient recently for "phantom limb pain", a bit of a misnomer in this case as the "phantom limb" here is where the ring finger used to be. This patient had a pneumatic drill injury to his ring finger, and even though the finger was viable from a neurovascular standpoint, the surgeon could not repair the bones and tendons well enough to make it anything other than a nuisance. Above you see the result of the surgery which removed the useless finger and created a functional hand. For his part, aside from having some phantom pain, the patient is quite happy with the result. He says he only rarely notices the absence of the finger.
Looks like this guy is a HORNED FROG fan! I love him!
ReplyDeleteMany cartoon characters have only four fingers ... I guess it is easier to draw acceptable looking hands that way! The Hamburger Helper hand only has four fingers as well.
ReplyDeletei know drackman is lurking with this comment so i'll just beat him to it... for a dude, it's all good as long as you can still snap the old bean. right frank?
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't the surgeon fashion some webbing? He would have been greased lightning in the side stroke.
ReplyDeleteI know a pt w/ chronic testicular pain, no testicle. He is a chronic pain pt. Is it possible to have phantom testicular pain? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteAlways one for alliteration, would this not be better termed: Phantom Phalangeal Pain (probably palliated by permanent Percocet perscriptions)?
ReplyDeleteAs to OF's comment, if I lost my two middle fingers and was forced to make the "hook 'em" sign in perpetuity, I would have to chew off one of the two remaining fingers!
i've got phantom testicular pain just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I could look it up but any specific treatments for phantom pain that differ from typical pain management?
ReplyDeleteI tell you what, if I had a prosthetic hand, I'd get all kinds of useful attachments for it. One with a letter opener and scissors, one with a back scratcher, one with a can opener ...
ReplyDeleteDoes Leatherman make prosthetic limbs?
dear peggyU,
ReplyDeletei think you get credit for the first million dollar idea on the blog. leatherman prosthetics... somebody give me an amen.
The batteries might make it cumbersome, butt it wouldn't get stuck so easily.
ReplyDeleteSwiss Army Knife prosthetic?
ReplyDeleteYou think the Nevada Department of Corrections would let OJ do the infomercials?
@Anonymous 5:53p
ReplyDeleteThere are brilliant therapies for phantom limb pain that involve rewiring the brain through exercises done with mirrors.
(I don't see how this would work with phantom testicular pain, though.)