Angel Fingers Foundation, Inc.
Syndactyly occurs in the womb. While the hand is forming, sometimes the fingers don't split apart enough and the webbed fingers result.
About Syndactyly
Syndactyly "webbed fingers" is a congenital hand deformity that is characterized by the lack of separation between fingers or toes, and this skin attachment can vary from a skin attachment to a bony attachment.
Syndactyly occurs in the womb. While the hand is forming, sometimes the fingers don't split apart enough and the webbed fingers result. In many cases, syndactyly in the fingers hinders the use of the hand in finer functions.
This abnormality occurs in approximately 1 in 2500 births and can occur in the hands or feet. It occurs in more males than females and in Caucasians more than people of African or Asian descent.
In about one third of cases, there is another family member with the same condition.
Syndactyly should be corrected with surgery. In this operation, the physician will usually split the fingers with a zig zag cut. This is done so that scars do not interfere with the growth of the fingers.
The surgeon will cut and remove the webbed skin and revise and fill in the gaps with skin grafts. This skin is usually taken from the groin and will leave a small permanent scar. The stitches in both the hand and groin will dissolve. The surgery should be performed on children at least 9 months of age.
Surgery results in correcting the appearance, function and social stigmata of syndactyly.