Case Report: Impending Gangrene of Finger Secondary to Constriction Caused by Mother’s Hair

Abstract

Introduction: Impending gangrene of the thumb in infants is rare. Case Presentation: A two-month-old baby was brought to our hospital with swelling and redness in the thumb of the left hand for one day. The child was irritable and febrile, but a systemic examination of the child was unremarkable. The thumb was swollen, with considerable redness and a small concentric band at the base of the thumb. A pulse oximetry probe could not detect oxygen saturation in the thumb. An intraoperative examination revealed a hair as the cause of the constriction band. All hair was meticulously removed. Oxygen saturation improved to 98% immediately after surgery, and the postoperative period was uneventful. A complete healing of the ulcer was seen after three weeks. Conclusions: Impending gangrene secondary to the mother’s hair is extremely rare. Fortunately, the prompt use of measures and the timely removal of the hair causing constriction in our case prevented established gangrene that would have led further to amputation.