The child has a type IV floating bunion, when can he have a hemimetacarpal bone graft reconstruction surgery

Last week, there was a very cute floating thumb baby in the clinic. He came here for a review, and he had completed the two stages of the hemi-metacarpal bone graft reconstruction surgery. The child’s thumb has recovered quite well, and he can already move it a bit. As long as he exercises diligently, there is still a lot of room for him to recover, and he will be able to go to school and write in the future. The parents have guided the child very well. Basically, we can’t see any inferiority complex caused by the floating thumb on him, he is very optimistic and polite. While waiting for the surgery, the child has developed the habit of pinching things, and the parents are eager to have the surgery as soon as possible! The child has type IV bunion dysplasia, where the thumb is connected to the palm of the hand without a metacarpal bone and is connected by a skin tube, which is a serious condition. The child was over 2 years old when he first came to my clinic, which is too old for the recommended surgery. The parents said that they had taken their child to a local hospital and the doctor recommended metatarsal reconstruction, which required the child to be too young for the surgery, so they had delayed the surgery until he was over 2 years old. While waiting for the surgery, the child could not use his thumb, so he usually relied on his middle finger and forefinger to pinch the toys, and the parents were anxious and wanted to have the surgery as soon as possible, so they consulted a lot of information on the internet and learned about the metacarpal bone grafting and reconstruction technique. Semi-metacarpal bone graft reconstruction technique is the main surgical plan we use nowadays for treating floating bunions. It is to rebuild the first metacarpal bone from the upper part of the second metacarpal bone, and the age of the child can be greatly advanced compared with metatarsal bone reconstruction surgery, and the child can receive the surgery when he/she is about 6 months to 1 year old, which is also the time when the thumb function is being established, so that the child’s thumb function can be established more smoothly, and the child’s middle finger and index finger can be prevented from developing. This will allow the child to establish thumb function more smoothly, avoiding the habit of holding objects with the middle and index fingers as much as possible, which will be more favorable to the child’s physical and mental development.