[Fifty years of plastic surgery in the Netherlands. I. Seemingly minor accidents: major hand injuries].

In patients with hand injury, careful clinical examination is necessary, even in cases of seemingly trivial lesions such as small puncture wounds. Four patients, two women aged 18 and 51 years and two men aged 16 and 28 years, presented with a small volar cut caused by a glass fragment (three patients) and a saw. They suffered from loss of motor function, loss of sensibility or loss of circulation in one finger. They were treated by plastic surgery. Lesions of tendons and peripheral nerves can be diagnosed by relatively simple tests. It is important to recognize them at an early stage because adequate treatment may result in recovery of the sensibility and the motor function. Even a 'dead' finger may be salvaged.