Trigger finger

Trigger finger is a condition in which a finger catches or locks during bending because a flexor tendon moves poorly through its pulley system. It can cause pain, stiffness, and a palpable nodule in the palm.

Flexor tendon: A tendon that bends a finger by transmitting force from a forearm muscle to the finger bones. The restricted structure must glide through a pulley for the finger to bend smoothly.
Trigger finger diagnosis: The clinical assessment used to identify trigger finger and distinguish it from other causes of finger locking. Typical catching and a tender palm-side nodule often establish the diagnosis.
Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau: A French surgeon and anatomist whose work included an early description of trigger finger. Velpeau’s nineteenth-century account helped establish the condition as a distinct hand disorder.
Dupuytren contracture: A progressive thickening of palmar connective tissue that can pull fingers into a fixed bent position. It limits extension like severe triggering but arises from palmar fascia, not tendon catching.
Diabetes mellitus: A group of metabolic disorders characterized by persistently elevated blood glucose. Trigger finger occurs more often in people with diabetes and may affect several digits.
Flexor tendon pulley system: A series of fibrous loops that hold the flexor tendons close to the finger bones. Narrowing at the A1 pulley commonly obstructs tendon passage in trigger finger.
Quinnell grading: A clinical classification describing the severity of triggering and the need for passive assistance to extend a finger. It organizes trigger finger severity from uneven movement to fixed locking.
Notta's nodule: A palpable thickening of a flexor tendon associated with triggering, named after the French physician Alfred Notta. The eponym describes a tendon finding often present in trigger finger.
De Quervain tenosynovitis: A painful disorder of the thumb-side wrist involving tendons in the first dorsal compartment. It affects a different tendon compartment and causes wrist-side thumb pain rather than finger locking.
Rheumatoid arthritis: A chronic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of joints and surrounding tissues. Inflammatory tendon-sheath disease can contribute to catching and finger dysfunction.

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