Kaplan’s Lesion in a Child: A Case Report

Abstract

Kaplan’s lesion is a rare complex metacarpophalangeal joint dislocation. A 7-year-old female child presented with pain, swelling and inability to move her right index finger. Her mother gave a history of sustaining a fall injury on the same hand around 3 weeks back. Radiographs showed a complex dorsal metacarpophalangeal joint dislocation. As the injury was already 3 weeks old at presentation, a few attempts at closed reduction were tried, under anaesthesia, which was unsuccessful. So, the patient underwent open reduction through a dorsal approach. At a 1-year follow-up, the patient was pain-free and had regained full range of motion of the index finger metacarpophalangeal joint. The differential diagnosis of Kaplan’s lesion should be considered when a child presents with finger dislocation.

Keywords

• joint dislocations; metacarpophalangeal joint; open reduction.