Youssra Marjoua, M.D. is a board-certified orthopedic hand surgeon in Maryland who specializes in conditions of the hand, wrist, and elbow.
After obtaining her medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, her orthopedic residency at the Harvard Orthopedic Residency Program, and her public policy degree at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Dr. Marjoua then completed an upper extremity and microsurgery fellowship at the prestigious Curtis National Hand Center.
What is a hand surgeon?
A hand surgeon is an orthopedic, plastic, or general surgeon who has specialized training and expertise in treating conditions of the hand, wrist, and elbow. As specialists of the hand and upper extremity, hand surgeons diagnose and treat injuries, dysfunction and pain either with or without surgery depending on the diagnosis and severity of the upper extremity condition.
From where did Dr. Youssra Marjoua’s passion for hand surgery stem?
During her orthopedic training, it was the very personal aspect of treating patients’ hand and upper extremity conditions that attracted her to the specialty.
Understanding the valuable role of hand health and function, and its impact on patient’s daily lives afforded her the opportunity to “make a visible and at times immediate impact on someone’s life with an accurate diagnosis, an appropriate indication for surgery and precise surgical technique, while having the privilege to connect with patients and understand their needs.”
In short, the ability to positively impact people’s lives by expertly treating something as important as their hands is what led Dr. Marjoua to become a hand surgeon.
Does a visit to the hand surgeon always result in hand surgery?
No. A consultation with a hand surgeon does not always result in hand surgery.
Dr. Marjoua’s goal as a hand specialist is to ultimately strive to help a patient arrive at pain relief or functional improvement without surgery.
Non-operative treatment options exist through several different modalities that include rest, physical therapy, splinting, cortisone injections, topical anti-inflammatories, oral anti-inflammatories, and activity modifications.
If a patient has a condition in which non-operative treatments options have not been effective, only then will Dr. Marjoua consider and discuss surgical treatment options.
What are some examples of conditions treated by a hand surgeon?
- Nerve compression syndromes such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
- Hand, wrist, and elbow arthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Trigger finger
- Dupuytren’s disease
- Hand, wrist, forearm, and elbow fractures
- Lacerations of the upper extremity including nerve, artery, tendon, and muscle
- Tendonitis, sprains, and overuse injuries
- Sports injuries to the hand, wrist, and elbow
- Work-related injuries to the hand and upper extremity
- Infections of the hand
Does Dr. Marjoua take cosmesis into consideration during surgery?
In the surgical context, cosmesis refers to the surgical correction of a disfiguring defect or the purposeful preservation and restoration of visible anatomy ie. Skin, while marking incisions and performing surgery.
Dr. Marjoua takes cosmesis into careful consideration with every surgery. Each decision she makes from the length, direction, and location of incisions to the type of sutures used comes from a full understanding of the process of skin healing. This attention to detail helps to reduce the degree of skin scarring and thus helps produce the best possible cosmetic results. This is true even when performing surgery on or near body art, where she pays careful attention to respect the lines of the body art in place.
For patients who do require surgery, what should they expect?
Pre-operative expectations:
Patients with underlying medical conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes for example, will need to see their primary care provider prior to surgery to confirm that it is safe to undergo anesthesia for the surgical procedure.
Additional pre-operative testing for hand surgery will vary based on whether the surgery will require general anesthesia (patient asleep and intubated) or local anesthesia (patient can be asleep but not intubated).
Procedures not requiring general anesthesia (ie. local only), typically do not require fasting the day of the procedure. The surgeon will apply a numbing agent to the surgical site using an injection and proceed with the surgery. This is reserved for short procedures. If sedation is preferred in combination with local anesthesia, then fasting is required.
Fasting for procedures requiring general anesthesia is necessary for safe intubation and administration of anesthetic medications. This typically also requires additional preparatory work in the operating room.
Post-operative expectations:
After surgery, the patient is moved to a recovery room for a short amount of time where they are awoken—if general anesthesia was used—and are then able to eat and drink to begin their recovery process. As a precaution, the patient’s vital signs are monitored for a period of time before the patient is released to recover at home with post-operative care instructions and/or pain medications/prescriptions that are provided during the discharge process.
For post-operative dressings, many operations that do not involve bone work will simply require a soft dressing that can be removed by the patient at home. Operations that require bone work, however, may require a cast or a splint that will remain on until patient follow-up.
Typically suture removal and wound assessment occurs 10-12 days after surgery. However, with more specialized procedures like tendon repairs, Dupuytren’s disease, and some others, patients tend to be seen sooner and more frequently, post-op.
Some patients will need hand therapy after surgery, however, that is determined by the procedure performed as well as the patient’s progress with post-operative recovery.
Need to Schedule an Appointment With a Hand Surgeon in Maryland?
Dr. Marjoua is now accepting new patients. To request an appointment, please give us a call or fill out the form below.