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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffTrigger finger is a condition in which one of your fingers or your thumb catches in a bent position. Your finger or thumb may straighten with a snap — like a trigger being pulled and released. If trigger finger is severe, your finger may become locked in a bent position.
Often painful, trigger finger is caused by a narrowing of the sheath that surrounds the tendon in the affected finger. People whose work or hobbies require repetitive gripping actions are more susceptible. Trigger finger is also more common in women and in anyone with diabetes.
Treatment of trigger finger, also known as stenosing tenosynovitis, varies depending on the severity.
- Anderson BC. Trigger finger (stenosing flexor tenosynovitis). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Trigger finger. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00024&return_link=0. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Akhtar S, et al. Management and referral for trigger finger/thumb. British Medical Journal. 2005;331:30.
- Wright PE II. Carpal tunnel, ulnar tunnel, and stenosing tenosynovitis. In: Canale ST, et al. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/159164477-5/0/1584/566.html?tocnode=55690331&fromURL=566.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-03329-9..50076-3--cesec16_4012. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Silver JK. Trigger finger. In: Frontera WR, et al. Essentials of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: Musculoskeletal Disorders, Pain, and Rehabilitation. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/159164477-5/0/1678/36.html?tocnode=55147984&fromURL=36.html. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Peters-Veluthamaningal C, et al. Corticosteroid injection for trigger finger in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009:CD005617.
