NEWS & VIEWS

Introduction:

The hand is the main interface between man and his environment. It is an organ of perception and expression [1]. Unfortunately; it is also the most vulnerable part of the body to be affected by burn injuries [2]. These injuries are unique and therefore categorized as major injuries by the American Burn Association, a categorization that emphasizes the importance of the hand not only to the burned individual but also to society as a whole [3]. Severely functionally limiting complications can follow deep thermal injury to the hand [4]. Post burn hand deformities, unlike others have a wide variety of presentations. The combinations of deformities can have bizarre presentations, especially when there is a flexion contracture of one joint and an extension contracture of

the adjacent joint [5]. Children particularly infants rolling into unprotected fires or exposed to hot liquids, home electrical current and explosions of poorly made stoves are the most common causes of burns in this age at our society. For adults especially females burns in the kitchen due to leak of gas from gas bottles or explosion of gas bottles, exposure to chemicals as in cleaners as well as electrical burns particularly in males are common causes. Management of post-burn hand deformities can be lengthy and complicated procedure. The mainstays of management of these contractures include complete surgical of scar tissue and resurfacing of the resultant soft tissue defect most commonly with split or full thickness skin grafts. If scar contracture release results in major exposure of the tendons or joints Z- plasties, local flaps, regional flaps,