Chronic mallet finger: The use of Fowler's central slip release

The use of Fowler's central slip release is reported in five patients considered to be failures of closed management in a personal series of 100 consecutive “mallet fingers” seen over a period of 3 years. Fracture-subluxation of the distal interphalangeal joint, avulsion fractures of the extensor tendon, and distal phalangeal epiphyseal injuries are excluded to rigidly control the data interpretation. In all five the central slip release was employed as a salvage procedure-as Fowler recommended. In four cases the result was rated as excellent; the remaining case was rated as good, with minimum follow-up of 1 year.