ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 3 (UPI) -- U.S. and British researchers suggest hand surgery in rheumatoid arthritis patients be done sooner, rather than later.
However, even at later stages of deformation, getting surgery for metacarpophalangel joint disease -- where knuckle joints are replaced with solid silicon joints -- was still beneficial.
The study, published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found patients with a wide range of deformity had positive reports after reconstruction.
While all patients showed statistically significant improvement, researchers found the most severe cases still had significant deformities after surgery -- confirming the more serious the malformation, the more difficult it is to correct.
Dr. Kevin Chung of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, the study leader, and colleagues in Michigan, Maryland and the United Kingdom evaluated the surgical outcomes of 70 patients suffering from varying degrees of hand deformities.
"Rheumatoid arthritis patients with more severe metacarpophalangeal joint diseases will attain similarly good outcomes after reconstruction when compared with those with less severe deformities," the study said.
"Despite the potential barriers to silicone metacarpophalangeal joint arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis patients with more severe hand deformities, surgical treatment is still beneficial."
