[Infections of the hand].

Tendon sheath infections and septic arthritis require early irrigation therapy in order to avoid permanent loss of function. In the thumb, infection of the sheath often leads to an acute carpal tunnel syndrome, necessitating open median nerve decompression. Differential diagnoses have to be taken into consideration: tuberculous synovialitis of the tendon sheath or finger joint is not yet extinct. The severely painful herpetic whitlow of the finger tip requires virostatic therapy. Operative measures are also not indicated in the acute calcium deposit, which as a rule resolves spontaneously within several days. Only its chronic recurrent form with or without pressure symptoms requires surgical intervention.