Texas Children’s hand expert makes patient’s dreams possible

June 13, 2017

Seventeen-year-old Angelica Aulbaugh has been swimming since she was 4 years old. Her high level of training for a competitive team conditioned her to be tough, but nearly two years ago she noticed her left hand was swelling to an abnormal size.

Most often, it would swell after she swam a long distance or ate salty foods. Eventually, however, Angelica’s swelling episodes grew more and more frequent and her hand began to throb when she was exercising. Her mom, Pam, an emergency room nurse, grew concerned and sought answers from the medical community. After talking to several physicians, her search led her and her daughter to Texas Children’s Hospital, specifically to Dr. Chris Pederson, a pediatric plastic surgeon with expertise in microvascular hand surgery.

During his first visit with Angelica, Pederson asked the teenager to raise her arm above her head. As he observed, the pieces started coming together, and following a battery of tests, Pederson diagnosed Angelica with an extremely atypical case of thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition that typically presents closer to the clavicle and occurs when blood vessels or nerves are compressed.

In Angelica’s case, her axillary vein, a major vein in her arm that carries blood to her heart was being occluded 70 to 80 percent, putting her at very high risk for a blood clot. To relieve the constriction, Angelica underwent surgery in November. Shortly after the procedure, her hand began to look and feel normal again.

“Dr. Pederson potentially saved my life and opened the door to the possibilities of my future dreams,” Angelica said. “He not only listened to me, but he fought for my life and my health.”

After being sidelined for more than a year, Angelica is back in the pool doing what she loves. She made it to the final two swim meets of the season and started playing water polo, too. Recently, Angelica visited Pederson for a follow-up appointment and he noted afterwards, “She’s perfect.”

Expertise in hand problems, injuries and abnormalities

Pederson is one of three hand specialists at Texas Children’s Hospital who can treat the most common hand problems like fingers, deep cuts, carpal tunnel, and scars to the more complex cases like contractures, extra digits, tendon injuries and other hand traumas. The specialists, all of whom are surgeons, also provide treatment of congenital hand and upper-extremity anomalies, as well as those as a result of infection trauma and tumors.

“This is a group that is capable of taking care of everything from the most basic hand injuries to the most complex problems involving nerves and microvascular surgery,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs and chief of plastic surgery at Texas Children’s. “Very few hospitals in the world have surgeons such as these focused completely on pediatric hand problems.”

Hollier added that Pederson is one of the most experienced and best known hand surgeons practicing in the United States. “I cannot think of anyone more capable of growing and developing the hand and upper extremity team we are developing at Texas Children’s Hospital,” he said.

Chief of Orthopedics Dr. John Dormans said Pederson has unified and solidified Texas Children’s complimentary, multidisciplinary pediatric hand and upper extremity program and team, which includes Drs. Edward Reece and Bryce Bell. “We are so fortunate to have these super-sub-specialists who focus on rare and difficult pediatric conditions,” he said.

For more information about the hospital’s hand services, click here. To read a first person account of Angelica’s experience at Texas Children’s Hospital, read her post on the Texas Children’s Blog here.