Hand and Plastics

Hand care goes beyond treating the physical condition or injury. Depending on what the patient needs, treatment may include surgery, hand therapy, splinting, rehabilitation, social work counselling, support group participation or a combination of treatments.

Care for hand patients includes treatment for hand trauma, as well as treatment for conditions and diseases affecting the bones, nerves, skin and tendons of the hand. Finger and hand replantations are being performed more and more frequently using microsurgical techniques.

UHN’s Hand Program
We base our hand program on a hand therapy model that is highly collaborative. In addition to their training as surgeons, physical and occupational therapists, nurses and social workers, our team members have training specifically in hand treatment. Working together, we do our best to be a comprehensive “one-stop shop” for hand patients.

We provide hand treatment in four areas:

1) Traumatic hand injury

• Treatment of acute hand injuries, including hand and finger replantation
• Restoring as much use of the hand and fingers as possible to patients who have lost part or all use of their hands due to an accident or trauma months or years ago

2) Arthritis of the hand

• Developing treatment plans with patients that may include surgery to treat arthritis, especially arthritis affecting the wrist or thumb

3) Rheumatoid arthritis

• Developing treatment plans with patients to treat this condition

4) Work-related injuries - Services are provided in partnership with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (www.wsib.on.ca).

• Assisting the Rehabiliation Solutions Hand & Upper Extremity program (a program of the Rehabilitation Solutions care area) in comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment and treatment planning for workers who have suffered injuries to their fingers, hands and wrists

Well-known for our collaborative team, we are the only centre in Toronto and one of the few centres in the province providing comprehensive hand care to patients with complex conditions. Leaders in medical education, we are uncovering new and innovative ways to improve treatments for hand conditions through our successful research program.

For more information about the Hand Care Area, please visit the Hand Program Web site.

Plastics
General Plastic Surgery services are provided by attending staff surgeons, senior plastic surgery residents, junior surgical residents, and senior medical students in their 3rd and 4th years of medical training. We provide consultations, post-operative follow up, and ongoing treatment for conditions such as leg ulcers and diabetic feet. We also provide aesthetic surgery services.