Types of hand infections
Figure 27: Paronychia on left middle finger.
Figure 28: Felon on index finger.
Figure 29: Tenosynovitis of right hand.
Figure 30: Space infection on left hand.
Figures 31 (top) and 32 (bottom): Human bite on right ring finger.
The types of infection are classified by the anatomical areas of the hand that are infected.
- Paronychia
- Infection of the skin fold that sits over the fingernail i.e. the cuticle area
- Commonly caused by nail biting and aggressive manicure. It presents as painful, swollen and red nail fold
- Chronic paronychia occurs in the people whose hands are frequently wet, for example, bartenders and the common infecting agent is a fungus
- Felon
- Infection of the distal pad of the finger which is usually caused by the puncture of the finger tip by thorn or splinter
- Tendon Sheath Infection (tenosynovitis)
- Infection of the flexor tendon sheath of the hand particularly at the areas between the pulleys and the flexor tendon. The four classic signs of the infection are:
- Partially flexed posture of the finger (or thumb)
- Pain with passive finger extension over the palmar side of the finger
- Pain to touch over the palmar side of the finger
- Circumferential (fusiform) swelling around the entire length of the finger
- Space Infections
- Space infections affect the deep areas of the hand
- Common sites are deep thenar area, deep palmer area and the web spaces. The web space abscess is often called collar button or dumbbell abcess
- Human Bite Infection
- Infection resulting from a human bite
- Common site is the metacarpophalyngeal joint (knuckle region injury due to a fist fight)
- Eikenella corrodens is the common organism to cause infection as it is found in the oral cavity