Brunelli precedure and thumb fusion update.

righthandman

Hello all again
It has been a very long time since I posted on here but I wanted to give an update on my hand in case anyone else is going to undergo the same procedures that I have had and also to get back in the habit of using this fabulous forum.
I had a modified Brunelli procedure and thumb joint fusion at the same time on my right hand on May the 6th last year. I was then 33. I recovered very quickly. The next day I was walking around a boot fair carrying a bag with my plastered up hand! A month after the plaster was off and I was using hand for light tasks and I was able to paint and write with it.
The deep grinding pain in the wrist and thumb had gone to be replaced with stiffness and tenderness and obviously reduced flexibility and movement.
Ten months after the op I can bend the wrist as far back and forward as the other one and strength seems to be the about the same as before the op. The deep pain is still gone but it is far from perfect. The hand is very stiff and sore most of the time and colder than the other. I now get particularly constant chonic pain in the forefinger joints which are starting to enlarge. My left thumb joint also constantly aches. All the finger joints click and creak. X-ray shows fairly normal joint spacing but when I talked to the consultant about the condition of the cartilage that he removed when fusing the thumb he said it was " pretty bad"!
I take diclofenac when the aching gets too much but am considering seing the consultant again to see if there is anything else that he can reccommend as it is getting to the point where the soreness gets too much for me to do certain tasks. Until a couple of weeks ago I was drinking a fair bit in the evening to take my mind off the soreness.
So I would say the operation was worth it but it is certainly not the end of my problems. I am pleasantly surprised how little that I have noticed the loss of movement in the thumb, it really hasn't affected me using it much.

barbara12

Hi righthandman
Its good to have you back with us, I did wonder about how you had got on, see we do worry about one another.
It is good of you to share this,it will give whoever is having the op done some hope, I really am glad it is mainly positive, but I sorry you are still in so much pain.
Hopefully your consultant will be able to offer you some more help, I have OA in my hips and back but the last 6 months or so my hand has joined in, and I must say I understand some of the pain you are going through, and I did wonder what they could do for thumb pain, so thankyou again
And dont leave it so long next time x

righthandman

Yes I promise not to leave it so long next time...It's a long story!
I have also been diagnosed with early stage spondylitis of the lower vertibrae but am glad to say that it doesn't cause me pain. Swimming and yoga with deep stretching definitely help me. Sorry to hear that it has got to your hands but I would recommend thumb fusion to anyone with really bad consant pain in that joint. To lose some degree of movement to be free of the chronic pain in my view was worth it.