When can a baby with six fingers undergo plastic surgery?

Genetics, marriage between close relatives, long-term exposure to radioactive substances during pregnancy, or infection with some pathogens during pregnancy, etc. may cause the baby to have six fingers. Six fingers are a deformity and can be surgically removed after the baby is three years old. Try not to do it before the age of three. After all, anesthesia is required, which is not good for the baby's health.

The cause of the disease is unknown. Most cases are caused by genetic factors and can be inherited from one generation to the next. In addition, the impact of environmental factors on embryonic development can also lead to this disease, such as certain drugs, viral infections, trauma, stimulation from radioactive substances, and especially modern industrial pollution can all become teratogenic factors. Damage to the early differentiation of the limb bud blastema is an important cause of hexadactyly.

The disease is obvious at a glance. Children are found to have extra fingers at birth. The types and severity of deformities vary. Some are only connected to normal fingers by a narrow cutaneous pedicle that wraps the blood vessels and nerves; some have nails, bone joints, tendons and blood vessels and nerve bundles, and have certain finger movement and sensory functions, which makes it difficult to choose surgery; some even have severe deformities such as "crab claws", with poor finger development, small and deviated fingers, which seriously affect the appearance and function of the hands. In addition to the physical effects, children and parents often have psychological problems. Psychological concerns will affect the child's psychological development, learning and social life, and even future employment, work and marriage.

It can be treated surgically. It is not a major operation and can be performed in most large hospitals. Most of them are corrected by surgery after the age of 3. If it is corrected too early, it may damage the epiphysis and cause displacement, affecting joint movement, lateral instability and small fingertips.

prevention

1. Avoid marrying close relatives.

2. Strengthen pregnancy care and nutrition.

3. Avoid respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, and viral infections such as rubella, measles, chickenpox, and mumps during pregnancy.

4. Avoid exposure to radiation, drugs and other factors that may cause embryo teratogenesis.