Aims: Department of Hand Surgery in the National Institute of Traumatology and Oxyology – before 2001: National Institute of Traumatology – was established in 1959 as the first independent hand surgery department in Hungary. Our Institute was the centre of operations for thumb reconstruction nearly in 2 decades in Hungary. Methods: The techniques for thumb reconstruction, selected after considering many factors, will be presented in my lecture. All the treatment options we applied in our practice for thumb reconstruction will be summarized in the form of a table. In the first period we performed 3 stage thumb reconstructions (31 cases). This period was followed by the method of elongation acquired from professor Ivan Matev, mainly in young growing patients, but also performed in adults by extending the indications (36 cases). Phalangization proved to be an excellent technique in many patients when the major part of the first phalanx was preserved after the injury (47 cases). Results: Indications, surgical technique and results achieved with all these three methods will be highlighted in my presentation.