Does Surgical Experience Affect the Outcomes During Percutaneous Release of the Trigger Finger?

Abstract

Background Trigger finger is a condition characterized by clicking or locking during finger movement, sometimes resulting in the freezing of a finger in flexion or extension. The aim of our retrospective study was to determine the effect of the surgeon's learning curve on clinical outcomes in percutaneous release of the trigger finger. In addition, we evaluated the effects of diabetes and local steroid injections on clinical outcomes. Methodology A total of 954 trigger fingers in 678 patients were reviewed from 2012 to 2022. All percutaneous release procedures were performed by a single surgeon in our institute under local anesthesia. The main outcome measures were recurrence and patient satisfaction. In addition, all patients were evaluated in terms of re-operation and complications. The mean follow-up period was 54.87 months. Results There was complete relief of symptoms in 636 (93.81%) patients, and 22 (3.24%) patients had mild pain but were satisfied. We found that the success rateincreased over time. The success rate was 91.4% in the first three years and increased to 98.25% in the next seven years (p = 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the diabetic and non-diabetic groups in terms of recurrence, satisfaction rate, and complications (p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of recurrence, satisfaction rate, and complications between the groups that received and did not receive steroid injections (p > 0.05). Conclusions Percutaneous release is a safe and reliable procedure in the treatment of trigger fingers, and the success rate increases as the experience increases. Moreover, diabetes mellitus and steroid injections did not affect the clinical results.