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Hi, I have encountered an infant born with an extra 5th digit where both have bone, nerves etc, surgery is being arranged for removal of one of the digits. The remaining digit will still be disproportionately shorter than the other digits. Can anyone advise on potential problems post-op or give advice on gait development etc. The infant will be aged 1 year at the time of the op. Any recommendations would be welcomed.

 

YamYam, interesting name ... my youngest son was born with 11 & 1/2 toes, with one hallux both phalanges being duplicated (non-fused) and the other hallux only had duplication of the distal phalanx (non-fused). Had them resected when he was 18/12 old. Gait wise, he played Divison 1 soccer, centre-back, was very quick over 10 metres, has black belt ju-jitsu (forget which school), despite one abducted and one adducted hallux, mark

 

My 22 year old son had an extra toe on his left foot ,removed at 1 year. Also syndactylism of 5th & 4th. The removal of the extra toe, performed by a plastic surgeon, healed beautifully . It was thought correction of the fused toe would cause too much scarring to be worth it. This was a wise move in retrospect.

 

To continue on with this thread; when is the best age to do this surgery? Pre- or post-walking?

A doctor friend is referring an 8-week old baby who has an extra, functional toe lateral to the 5th. The surgeon wants to operate at 6 months of age but my doctor friend has reservations (both about the age & the level of experience in this type of surgery here in Hong Kong).

Any guidelines?

 

Hi, duplicate toes/fingers are more common than we think. Having spoken with a plastic surgeon, apparently this kind of thing is 'bread and butter' stuff. The surgeon suggested operating at 12-15mths of age is preferable mainly because risks associated with the anaesthetic would be reduced but also any younger than this the bones are just too small etc. She also said this kind of surgery is more for cosmetic purposes. In some cultures, extra digits is considered very lucky. I guess the surgery would depend on whether its just the phalanx duplicated or metatarsal too..