Dupuytren's Contracture

Dupuytren's contracture is a condition in which one or more fingers become permanently bent in a flexed position. It is named for Guillaume Dupuytren, who first described its underlying mechanism, performed the first successful operation in 1831 and published the results in The Lancet in 1834. It usually begins as small hard nodules under the skin of the palm and worsens over time until the fingers can no longer be fully straightened; the ring finger is most commonly affected, followed by the little and middle fingers, and one or both hands can be involved.