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Hypothenar hammer syndrome: caused by a muscle anomaly? A case report with review of the literature

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Abstract

The hypothenar hammer syndrome (HHS) is a rare entity of secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon. The blunt hypothenar trauma causes a lesion of the vessel wall with a consecutive thrombosis or aneurysm of the ulnar artery at the Guyon’s canal. Different risk factors are discussed such as nicotine abuse, or a muscle anomaly in the Guyon’s canal. To date, there are five case reports published about muscle anomalies and HHS. We present a case of a 51-year-old shipbuilder with a unilateral HHS on his right dominant hand with a bilateral muscle anomaly. We successfully treated the patient by resection of the aneurysm without a resection of the atypical muscle.

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Correspondence to Lea Estermann.

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Estermann, L., Ducommun, P., Steurer-Dober, I. et al. Hypothenar hammer syndrome: caused by a muscle anomaly? A case report with review of the literature. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 138, 739–742 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-018-2913-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-018-2913-1

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