Dupuytren's contracture (redirected from Dupeytron's contracture)

contracture /con·trac·ture/ (-cher) abnormal shortening of muscle tissue, rendering the muscle highly resistant to passive stretching.

---

Dupuytren's contracture  flexion deformity of the fingers or toes, due to shortening, thickening, and fibrosis of the palmar or plantar fascia.

ischemic contracture  muscular contracture and degeneration due to interference with the circulation from pressure, or from injury or cold.

organic contracture  permanent and continuous contracture.

Volkmann's contracture  contraction of the fingers and sometimes of the wrist, or of analogous parts of the foot, with loss of power, after severe injury or improper use of a tourniquet.

---

Dupuytren's contracture

n.

A disease of the palmar fascia resulting in thickening and contraction of fibrous bands on the palmar surface.

---

Dupuytren's contracture

[dYpY·itraNs′, dēpē·itranz′]

Etymology: Guillaume Dupuytren, French surgeon, 1777-1835; L, contractura drawing together

a progressive painless thickening and tightening of subcutaneous tissue of the palm, causing the fourth and fifth fingers to bend into the palm and resist extension. Tendons and nerves are not involved. Although the condition begins in one hand, both become symmetrically affected. Of unknown cause, it is most frequent in middle-aged males. Early surgical removal of the excess fibrous tissue under general anesthesia restores full use of the hand. An incision is made in the palm, and the thickened tissue is excised carefully to prevent injury to adjacent ligaments.