ABPS Surgery of the Hand study guide
ABPS Surgery of the Hand · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ABPS Surgery of the Hand examination - commonly called the Hand Surgery Examination, or HSE - is a multiple-choice certifying assessment offered by The American Board of Plastic Surgery for surgeons who want to demonstrate specialty-level competence in hand and upper-extremity surgery. It is aimed at plastic surgeons navigating the Board's hand surgery initial certification pathway, and at diplomates maintaining hand surgery certification through recertification. The ABPS Surgery of the Hand study guide has 9 sections and about 2,613 words.
01Congenital and Pediatric Hand Conditions
Congenital differences are approached with three questions: is the anomaly isolated or syndromic, is the limb growing normally, and does function (or the growth of adjacent parts) demand early surgery? Simple (skin only) versus complex (bone/fascia), complete versus incomplete.
312 words, about 2 min02Hand and Wrist Trauma: Fractures, Dislocations, and Soft-Tissue Injury
Volar locking plates dominate dorsally displaced adult fractures. Decision points are articular congruity (accept under 2 mm of step in young patients), DRUJ stability, and the ulnar styloid.
299 words, about 1 min03Nerve Injury, Compression Neuropathy, and Microsurgery
Injury classification. Seddon: neurapraxia (demyelination, full recovery), axonotmesis (axonal loss with intact endoneurium, good spontaneous recovery), neurotmesis (transection, no recovery).
295 words, about 1 min04Tendon Injury and Tendon Reconstruction
Verdan I (FPL/FDP insertion), II (the fibro-osseous tunnel, historically 'no man's land'), III (palm), IV (carpal tunnel), V (forearm). Zone II is unforgiving because the repair must glide beneath the A2 and A4 pulleys, the critical ones to preserve.
316 words, about 2 min05Arthritis, Arthroplasty, and Joint Reconstruction
The thumb CMC joint is the most common hand site, staged by Eaton–Littler: I (normal), II (slight narrowing, 2 mm), III (marked narrowing with subluxation), IV (pancarpal with STT involvement). Stages I–II respond to splinting and corticosteroid injection; III–IV are treated with trapeziectomy with or without ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition (LRTI) or suspensionplasty.
268 words, about 1 min06Hand and Wrist Neoplasms and Soft-Tissue Masses
The most common hand mass. Dorsal wrist ganglions arise near the scapholunate interval, volar ones from the radiocarpal joint or FCR sheath.
308 words, about 2 min07Infections of the Hand and Upper Extremity
Paronychia is treated with incision and drainage, sometimes with nail plate removal. A felon is a distal pulp abscess drained through a lateral incision to spare the digital vessels and nerves.
258 words, about 1 min08Vascular Disorders, Amputation, and Replantation
Raynaud phenomenon is vasospastic and managed medically (calcium channel blockers, warming, smoking cessation). Hypothenar hammer syndrome follows repetitive palmar trauma, producing ulnar artery aneurysm or thrombosis with emboli to the ulnar digits; angiography is diagnostic.
275 words, about 1 min09Dupuytren Disease, Contracture, and Soft-Tissue Coverage
A fibroproliferative disorder of the palmar fascia producing nodules and cords. The pretendinous cord contracts the MCP joint; the spiral cord (pretendinous band, lateral digital sheet, Grayson's ligament) contracts the PIP joint and displaces the digital nerve centrally - the classic operative trap.
282 words, about 1 min