Trapeziectomy surgery pain

HippyDiana

Hi, I had a trapeziectomy with tendon sling almost six weeks ago to treat arthritis in the base of my thumb. I have started physio but am finding it difficult to do because I'm still in a lot of pain, both in the ball of my thumb and around the wound. I'm also having a lot of pain in the wrist (I'm guessing from where the tendon was removed?) Of course, I expected some pain but what I'm experiencing is worse than I thought it would be at this stage. I also had an infection in the wound for 4 weeks which has now healed but I still have some swelling along one side of the wound and numbness which goes right down my outer thumb. Has anyone else experienced the same or similar following this surgery? I'm worried that I might have a form of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

Anna

Hi @HippyDiana and welcome to the online forum,

Our members are friendly and supportive and all live with arthritis. I’m sure you’ll find lots of help and advice in our forum.

I understand you’ve recently had a trapeziectomy with tendon sling to treat arthritis at the base of your thumb and you are still in a lot of pain. You might be interested in the recent thread below where members talk about their experiences of this operation:

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/51259/trapeziectomy

I’ve also attached a link to the Versus Arthritis hand and wrist surgery page where you might also find some useful information:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/hand-and-wrist-surgery/

Do let us know how you’re getting on,

Anna ( Mod)

Lizbam

Hi I have had a trapeziectomy with tendon sling on both hands it’s almost 18 months ago now after the second operation and my thumbs are pain free now. Like you I was surprised how painful it was and I couldn’t remove splints for 8 weeks post surgery. I also had complications as the joints above became stiff and still are on both hands. I was also numb along the incision for about 3 months. Just persevere, it’s painful but do your exercises and if you still have problems, ring for a consultant follow up. You will get there it just takes a while.