One of the ways the body’s immune system responds to illness and injury is through a process called inflammation . Inflammation causes swelling, pain, and other physical changes as the body fights an infection.
Dactylitis is a form of inflammation in the fingers and toes. Symptoms include swelling in one or more fingers and toes, and often the entire hand or foot. The swelling gives the fingers a sausage-like appearance; It can be painful and make it difficult to move the affected area.
Dactylitis can be caused by an infection or a change in the immune system . It is often the result of an autoimmune disorder. These are the 6 most common causes of this pathology:
1. Sickle cell disease
Sickle cell anemia is a group of genetic disorders of red blood cells. Normally, red blood cells are disc-shaped. In people with sickle cell disease, changes in hemoglobin can alter the shape of the sickle or curved blood cells; These changes can affect the body’s ability to get enough oxygen. Dactylitis can be the first symptom in people with sickle cell disease, especially in children. It can appear in babies up to 6 months of age.
2. Tuberculosis
Dactylitis is a rare complication of tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is an infectious bacterial disease that can cause inflammation in the lungs. In rare cases, it can cause bone inflammation. This bony inflammation causes the bones in the hands or feet to swell, causing pain and changes in the shape of the fingers and toes. In most cases, only one side of the body is affected. Leprosy is another disease that can cause similar changes in the fingers.
3. Sarcoidosis
Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that can affect the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, and other organs . Very rarely, sarcoidosis can affect the bones and muscles of the hands, causing painful swelling. People with this symptom can also develop lupus pernio, which causes lesions and plaques on the face, ears, and fingers.
4. Syphilis
Syphilitic dactylitis can be caused by congenital syphilis (syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection). Pregnant women with syphilis can pass the disease to their babies, leading to congenital syphilis. In rare cases, babies born with congenital syphilis can develop dactylitis of the fingers and toes. This is due to inflammation in the bone and tissue and usually affects both sides of the body.
5. Spondyloarthritis
Spondyloarthritis refers to the types of arthritis that affect the joints and entheses, which are the tissues where tendons and ligaments attach to bones. One of the most common forms of spondyloarthritis is psoriatic arthritis. Dactylitis can sometimes be a sign of advanced psoriatic arthritis. Dactylitis is quite common in spondyloarthritis, affecting about a third of people with this condition. Researchers still don’t have a clear idea why so many people with spondyloarthritis get dactylitis, but they do know that it is due to swelling of the joints and surrounding tissues.
6. Infection
Some infections can cause swelling of the tissue deep under the skin or even in the bone. This swelling can cause symptoms of dactylitis. A form of dactylitis called distal bullous dactylitis is caused by an infection of the fat pad of a finger or toe. Commonly caused by skin infections, such as Streptococcus or Staphylococcus, this form of dactylitis occurs due to problems with circulation. This dactylitis can be extremely painful and cause lesions or blisters on or near the affected area. The condition is more common in children than adults.
Treatment
Treatment for dactilitis consists primarily address the underlying cause of the swelling. People with arthritis may need to take arthritis medications, while infections may require antibiotics.
