Vasomotor Reactivity in Dupuytren's Contracture

¹ From the Department of Surgery and the Department of Physiology, St. Louis University School of Medicine, and the Surgical Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri

Fifteen patients with Dupuytren's contracture were studied with a photoelectric plethysmograph. Ten individuals with normal hands served as controls. Plethysmograms were recorded as follows: a) normal hands; b) uninvolved hand of patient with Dupuytren's contracture; c) hand of patient with early Dupuytren's contracture; d) hand of patient with moderate Dupuytren's contracture; e) hand of patient with late Dupuytren's contracture; f) hand of patient following radical surgery. There were striking changes in the vasomotor reactivity in patients with Dupuytren's contracture in comparison with patients with normal hands. Vasomotor reactivity in the condition is decreased in proportion to the severity of the contracture. After radical operative correction of the deformity there was a significant return of vasomotor reactivity toward a normal pattern. Apparently, the uninvolved hand of patients with Dupuytren's contracture shows decreased vasomotor reactivity since a large percentage of these patients develop the disease bilaterally. It is suggested that the decreased vasomotor reactivity is a physiologic change caused by disturbed function of the autonomic nervous system.