The sort of cuts we urgently need the NHS to look at…
Clinical negligence solicitor Richard Kayser, from our London office, highlights the long-term risks of allowing tendon injuries to go untreated…
How many of us have been at home cutting through vegetables or washing up when the knife slips and cuts through one of our fingers.
The problem is that the injury may be more serious than just a cut. These types of accidents can often cause damage to one or more tendons, which means immediate loss of function. Unless repaired, this will be permanent. And if that repair is not carried out within the first few days, serious complications can arise as the surgery becomes more complex.
It is generally straightforward to diagnose a tendon injury. In the words of a leading consultant in plastic surgery ‘Examination could not be simpler. The patient is asked to make a fist. If some fingers do not move, the tendons have been severed.’
Unfortunately, despite this straightforward test, these injuries are going undetected. With the result that the window of opportunity to repair the tendon disappears. These patients then require more complex surgery, with longer rehabilitation times. More worrying is the permanent loss of function that they’ll be left with, which could have been avoided and can have devastating effects on their careers and lives.
Over the past two years I’ve seen a growing trend in this type of injury going undetected, and I would urge patients to seek a second opinion if these basic tests were not performed when they attended A&E.
Further information and guidance on tendon injuries can be found on the NHS website at:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tendonhand/Pages/Introduction.aspx
or call me, on 0207 653 3236.