The Orthopedic Hand and Upper Extremity Clinic at St. Louis Children’s Hospital is equipped to provide expertise care for children and adolescents who have a hand, wrist, or elbow condition or injury. They also commonly treat and care for children with a congenital (from birth) anomaly or deformity.  

The Clinic features the most experienced team of hand, wrist, and elbow surgeons in the region. Nationally, we are ranked among the top 10 orthopedic centers, and many of our surgeons are ranked among the best doctors.

Our physicians and providers are part of the largest and most experienced team of hand, wrist, and elbow surgeons in the region.  Our team:

  • Regularly treats injuries to the upper extremity including fractures, sports injuries (ligaments, tendons, and cartilage), and other soft tissue trauma.  Sports conditions specifically include throwing injuries in baseball, gymnastics injuries to the elbow and wrist, as well as other common athletic conditions such as tendonitis.  Provides expertise and experience with uncommon birth conditions of the upper extremity including missing digits, extra digits, and more severe arm deficiencies.  
  • Specializes in microsurgery as well as reconstructive surgery of the hand and wrist.  Use vascularized growth plate transplants for the restoration of growth to children’s limbs traumatized by injury, infection or cancer surgery.

Most surgical procedures for these problems are performed on an outpatient basis. A short stay in the hospital can be required for some of the larger surgeries.

Rehabilitation services are readily available for in both inpatient and outpatient settings to focus on rapidly returning a patient to maximum mobility and function. Our therapists also have a great deal of experience with birth anomalies as well as sports or traumatic injuries.

Stories

Saving Devin's Hand

The local emergency room doctor had called several hospitals and found that the doctors at St. Louis Children’s Hospital were the only ones who would agree to try to save Devin’s hand. If not, he would have lost everything but his thumb.