Central slip tenotomy for chronic mallet finger deformity.

Twenty patients with chronic mallet finger deformity were treated with central slip tenotomy. Seventeen patients had normal passive motion at the distal joint preoperatively. In them the average extensor lag was 37 degrees before the operation and 9 degrees after the operation. The average recurvatum at the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint was 10 degrees before the operation; postoperatively the extensor lag was less than 2 degrees.