Abstract

Background: Limb defects seen in childhood are mostly congenital and occur when a part of the entire limb fails to develop normally during pregnancy. Congenital hand anomalies (CHA) have a wide range of presentations, with the majority developing minor functional consequences in the late part of the life. Very limited studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia to evaluate the prevalence of congenital hand anomalies; this provides the rationale for the primary focus of the present study. The aim of the current study was to estimate the prevalence of congenital hand anomalies among children born at an academic hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A retrospective study involving 82 congenital hand anomalies(CHA) cases who underwent corrective surgery between January 2005 to December 2015, at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Results: A total of 82 cases with CHA were included in the study. Approximately 61% of the samples were male, and more than half of the participants (56.1%) were Saudi nationals. The most reported CHA was polydactyly (75.6%). The most commonly affected site was post-axial (35.4%). In most cases, the middle and ring fingers (8.5%) and the ring and little fingers (2.4%) were involved. Patients who had unilateral hand involvement and those with bilateral hand involvement were significantly different when affected legs were considered (p-value

Key words: Congenital hand anomalies; congenital limb anomalies, Saudi Arabia.