The care pathway
Your care team
Hand surgery involves several people. Knowing who does what saves you waiting in the wrong place.
Who is around you
The surgeon makes the diagnosis, sets the indication and performs the operation. The nurse clinician is the day-to-day link: questions about dressings, medication, appointments. The hand therapist — an occupational therapist or physiotherapist with specialist training — runs the rehabilitation and makes the splints.
Alongside them are the anaesthetist, the operating room team, and your family doctor, who stays at the centre of your overall care.
- For a dressing, a medication or an appointment: the nurse clinician.
- For an exercise, a splint, or pain on moving: your therapist.
- For a medical note or an insurance form: the surgeon’s office.
Making the most of your appointment
Appointments are short. A few minutes of preparation is worth a lot: write your questions down as they occur to you, rather than trying to remember them on the day.
Bringing someone with you helps too: few people remember everything said at a busy appointment.
- Bring your list of questions, written in advance.
- Bring your imaging and any previous operative reports.
- Describe what you can no longer do, not just where it hurts.
- Say which language you prefer: the consultation can be in French or English.
Outside office hours
The office does not answer at night or at weekends. For nursing advice, Info-Santé is available at all times on 811. For an emergency, call 911 or go to the emergency department.
If you are unsure about a warning sign, see that page — and if you are still unsure, get it looked at.
- Info-Santé 811: nursing advice, day and night.
- Emergency 911, or the emergency department of the hospital where you were operated on.
- The site’s contact form is not an emergency channel and is not monitored continuously.
Urgent
When to call, and who to call
Fingers that are cold, white or bluish, loss of sensation, severe and increasing pain that painkillers do not touch, a dressing that has become too tight, or bleeding that does not stop after ten minutes of pressure: go to the emergency department without waiting for a call back. For a fever, spreading redness or discharge, call the office the same day. If you are unsure, call 811.
Information on this site is general and does not replace a medical consultation. In an emergency, call 911.