Surgeons from the Da Nang Family Hospital have just successfully operated surgery on a 19-month-old child with triple syndacty from the central province of Quang Ngai to separate her joined fingers in both hands.

Previously, the child was taken by his parents to the Da Nang Family Hospital for examination. Through performing the necessary paraclinical techniques and consulting, the medical team decided to conduct the 5-hour surgery to separate 3 joined fingers in each hand.

After the successful surgery, the patient was discharged and returned home.

According to doctor Nguyen Dinh Hoa from the musculoskeletal unit under the Da Nang Family Hospital, the separation of joined fingers is a difficult technique in plastic surgery, in case of multiple fingers or bones joined together, requiring a very high level of expertise of surgeons.

Syndactyly, or “webbed fingers,” is caused by the failure of the fingers to separate during embryologic development. It is the most common congenital anomaly of the hand, with an occurrence of 1 per 2000 births. The condition tends to affect boys more often than girls and white children more often than Black or Asian babies.

The specific cause is unknown, but syndactyly is believed to result from an abnormal slowing of growth and development of the finger buds during weeks 7 and 8 of gestation.

Children should have surgery when they are between 2 and 4 years old. If not treated in time, it will greatly affect the motor function of the body, especially affecting psychophysiology of both children and their parents.

Reporting by LE HUNG – Translating by A.THU