Classifications of congenital hand deformities: View through the prism of time

This medico-historical analysis focused on the formation of present classifications of congenital hand deformities. Its implementation became possible thanks to the study of 163 literary sources, the search of which was carried out in the scientometric databases of Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science. The depth of the exploration has exceeded 180 years (from 1829 to 2017). Those dates make obvious that the initial steps in the systematization of regarded vices were taken in 18th19th centuries. Publications at that time became the foundation that pushed many scientists to develop the wide range of descriptive classifications. The complexity of their practical use required the creation of fundamentally different concepts of dividing anomalies. It became possible due to the discovery of the embryogenesis of the hand. The result of long-term studies was the acceptance of the actual method of the systematization of upper limb defects by IFSSH in 2014. The comprehension of stages, preceding its formation, is quite important for the medical community and facilitates the assessment of individual patients features.