I am 2 weeks post-op. For 2 years or more I handled my arthritic MCP joint with conservative treatment. I did a great deal of research before making my decision to have surgery. I was an OR nurse for many years so I have that as my perspective. The “original” procedure for this is referred to as “The Anchovy Procedure” and it entails a tendon transfer from the forearm that is curled into the space where the arthritic joint has been removed. It is old technology and the recovery time is protracted and difficult. I searched for hand surgeons who performed suspensionoplasty surgery and had to travel from my home town to find one. The procedure I originally was looking for is called a suture button suspensionoplasy but apparently after it was developed several other variations have been developed. In the end my surgery was performed with a fixative wire.
Make no mistake, this is not a decision to be taken lightly. Unfortunately, the first 24 hours were extremely difficult for me as the half cast brace was applied too tighly and had to be removed.
They sent me home with Tramadol as needed and 800mg of Ibuprophen (Advil) 4x/day. The first week was pretty painful and even though I was very religious about ice and elevation and the Advil, I still had significant swelling and completely numbness in my thumb and index finger. The rest of the fingers were somewhat numb. Sadly, the Tramadol is not sufficient to manage the pain. However, there is such caution now in the medical community in the use of narcotics, it is almost impossible to get them prescribed. That is a soapbox for another time. The original half cast was replaced with a removable (only at shower time) hard brace. This brace sits on top of my incision and I find it irritating. Now 2 weeks post op, I will begin PT in 2 days and really nervous because the pain has increased in the last 2 days probably because I’ve been using my hand too much. You really cannot know until you do this how often you use both hands. If you don’t have a sympathetic partner, don’t even think about having this surgery. I have also read that even with this modernized procedure, the recovery will be 3 months. I know I’ll be happy later, but right now I am having “buyer’s remorse”. Good luck with your decision.