I just had surgery for Dupuytren Disease that caused a contracture of my index and ring finger. What are the chances that the contracture will return after surgery?

There are several possible outcomes resulting from surgical correction of Dupuytren’s Disease. You can regain your extension mobility and maintain it for years to come or you could lose a small amount of your range in the first several months after which your contracture is stable and no longer progressing. These are the majority of cases, in some studies reporting minimal to no return of contracture in greater than 80 percent of patients electing surgical repair of contracture. The minority of cases result in significant loss of range and return of contracture to close to preoperative state. This can occur in the first few months after surgery then the contracture becomes stable, or the contracture can continue to progress up to and beyond five years. A few risk factors have been identified that will predispose one to return to severe contracture, including level of disability as measured with PEM scores prior to surgery, length of disease prior to surgery, and time required in surgery to correct contracture.