From a child’s hands, imagination becomes creation. Through their hands, children explore the world around them. For thousands of children with hand and upper limb disorders, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children has been a source of hope and healing.

The Center for Excellence in Hand delivers a setting for both patient care and clinical research focused on the treatment for pediatric patients with hand and upper limb disorders, says Scott Oishi, M.D., the center’s director. “Our clinical practice [treats] a variety of children who are either born with congenital hand differences or upper extremity differences, or patients who have had trauma or something happen to them after they’re born,” he says. “There are a lot of patients who come through here and get no surgery at all because all they really need is a lot of encouragement and ability to grow and expand their horizons.”

Oishi and staff hand surgeon Christopher M. Stutz, M.D., have the privilege of seeing many of their pediatric patients from the time they’re a few days old until the time they become 18 years old. “We’re able to keep a database of our patients as far as what type of diagnosis they have, what type of surgeries they underwent, and what their outcomes were, based on very good outcome measures,” Oishi says.

The doctors of the Center for Excellence in Hand are able to understand the best form of treatment for each child through their dedication to research. One of the research studies in the center focuses on the impact of participating in Hand Camp has on school-aged children with a congenital hand difference. Our doctors and researchers evaluate a child’s self-esteem, function and participation in activities, as well as their relationship with peers before and after attending Hand Camp. From treating children with congenital hand abnormalities, such as webbed fingers, reconstructing children’s hands with extra digits, or changing the position of fingers on hands, the center strives to give children back their childhood through the hospital’s world-renowned patient care and groundbreaking research. The Center for Excellence in Hand is committed to helping children with congenital hand anomalies become active, happy, productive, and independent adults.