Early active mobilization of primary repairs of the flexor pollicis longustendon

This study reports the treatment of divided flexor pollicis longus (FPL) te ndons from 1989 to 1998, The first 30 patients, in whom the tendon was repa ired with a Kessler suture and simple epitendinous suture and mobilized usi ng early active motion with only the thumb splinted, achieved 70/73% (White /Buck-Gramcko assessments respectively), excellent or good results and a ru pture rate of 17%, The next 39 patients underwent the same treatment but in a splint with the thumb position altered and the fingers also splinted, wi th 67/72% excellent or good results and a rupture rate of 15%, The next 49 patients underwent repair with a Kessler suture and a reinforced epitendino us suture and the same mobilization as group 2, with 76/80% excellent or go od results and a rupture rate of 8%. The final combination of repair and ea rly active mobilization for primary repair of FPL tendons compares favourab ly with previous methods of treatment.