Dupuytren’s contracture is a benign condition which causes a tightening of the flesh beneath the skin of the palm and can result in permanently bent fingers. There is a sheet of tissue just under the skin of the palm which is stuck to the undersurface of the skin of the palm. This layer, called fascia, reinforces the skin of the palm. The fascia looks like cloth, and has fine threads which run lengthwise from the palm into the fingers. Dupuytren’s disease makes these lengthwise threads shrink, and they can become too short to let the fingers straighten all the way. Trying to straighten the fingers pulls the threads taut, and they feel like a string under the skin, called a cord. The taut cord holds the fingers bent like the string on a bow. The cord may feel like a tendon, but it is actually between the tendon and the skin. There are more common reasons for people to develop bent fingers, including arthritis, trigger finger, or the after effects of injury or reflex sympathetic dystrophy – but these conditions are not Dupuytren’s disease and are treated differently.
The medical definition of Dupuytren’s is a specific condition characterized by proliferation of contractile, fibroblastic cells involving the palmar fascia of the hand. It is chronic and progressive. Involved areas show microscopic inflammation, similar to that seen in wound healing and some types of cancer, as though the body were healing a deep wound beneath the skin.
The medical definition of Dupuytren’s is a specific condition characterized by proliferation of contractile, fibroblastic cells involving the palmar fascia of the hand. It is chronic and progressive 11252689 . Involved areas show microscopic inflammation 10463754, similar to that seen in wound healing 6740656 and some types of cancer 6491814, as though the body were healing a deep wound beneath the skin 10473143, 8056970.