[Priniciples of reconstructive surgery of the rheumatic hand (author's transl)].

Rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthropathy, and ankylosing spondylitis very often cause deformities of the hand. Especially during the early stages of these diseases, synovectomy of joints and tendons is indicated; destructive and degenerative lesions can be limited in this way. If they are already present, in most cases only reconstructive operations such as arthrodesis, resection, interposition arthroplasty, articial joint replacement, tendon transfer etc. can improve the impaired function.