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Tenolysis is a well-established salvage procedure, which can be applied when non-gliding adhesions form along the surface of a tendon after injury or repair and prevent gliding of the tendon in the performance of its intended function.^{8,15,17,29,30,39,40,44,49} Tendon adhesions will occur whenever the surface of a tendon is damaged either through the injury itself, be it laceration or crush, or by surgical manipulation.¹⁸ At any point on the surface of a tendon where violation occurs, an adhesion will form in the healing period.^20,26 When these adhesions cannot be mobilised by an adequate course of hand therapy, tenolysis should be considered.

This procedure is as difficult or more so than tendon repair itself and should not be undertaken lightly. It represents another surgical incursion into an area of previous trauma and surgery. If the procedure is not successful, the patient's hand may show no improvement or even be worse. The risk of further decreasing the circulatory supply and innervation to an already deprived finger is a real one. Rupture of the lysed tendon, a disastrous complication, is the major hazard of tenolysis.

Although distal radius fractures are common, wrist contracture caused by an extra-articular lesion after a distal radius fracture is seldom reported. We report a rare case of wrist contracture caused by adhesion of extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) tendon after distal radius fracture. The patient was successfully treated with tenolysis of the ECRB tendon.

Background: Although numerous surgical techniques have been described and deployed, flexor tenolysis remains one of the most challenging procedures in hand surgery and there is no standardised way of recording the outcomes. The aim of this study is to systematically review the evidence supporting current concepts and outcomes in flexor tenolysis.

Methods: The systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Medline and EMBASE databases were searched for articles published in English using the keyword search terms ‘flexor’ or ‘tendon’ and ‘tenolysis’ or ‘tenoarthrolysis’. A total of 555 articles were listed and further screening provided fourteen studies remaining for final inclusion. The parameters for data extraction included number of digits operated on, age of the patients, initial injury mechanism requiring flexor tenolysis, outcome assessment method, follow-up period, results and complications. The primary outcome was postoperative active range of motion.

Results: 556 digits were included across all studies and the age of patients ranged between 1 and 75 years. Eleven out of fourteen of the articles used the Strickland criteria to report their outcomes. Other outcome measures used were total active motion (TAM), Buck-Gramcko and pulp-to-palm distance. In the studies which used the Strickland criteria, the average percentage of outcomes reported as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ was 68% with a range between 45% and 91%. Three other studies used Buck-Gramcko, TAM and pulp-to-palm distance outcome reporting and achieved 72% ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, 84% improvement and 30% able to touch distal palm crease respectively.

Conclusions: Although the literature contains a limited number of observational studies, the current evidence shows that 68% of well-selected patients who undergo flexor tenolysis achieve a good or excellent outcome as measured by the Strickland criteria.

Level of Evidence: Level III (Therapeutic)

Peritendinous adhesions represent a common problem without a satisfactory solution despite several studies. We have been using a conventional silicone Penrose drain in patients undergoing tenolysis in the hand since 2006. The Penrose drain is wrapped around the segment of the tendon after tenolysis. Therapy is started on the second post-operative day and the Penrose drain removed after one week in the outpatient clinic. We have had good outcomes with this technique. It is inexpensive, readily available and effective.

Level of Evidence: Level V (Therapeutic)