Abstract
Material & Methods: Twenty three patients (15 male; 8 female) with an average 30 years old (16–63) presented with a posttraumatic multidirectional instability of the distal RU joint. In two occasions instability was associated to a malunited distal radial fracture which was corrected with a osteotomy. Through a dorsoulnar approach, the RU joint in all cases was inspected and found with no cartilage defects that could preclude this intervention. Also in all occasions there was an unrepairable peripheral TFCC detachment. In 11 cases the palmaris longus tendon was utilized, while in one the flexor superficialis of the ring finger was used. The graft was passed through an anteroposterior tunnel in the distal-medial edge of the radius and attached into another tunnel in the basistyloid fovea. The forearm was then immobilized in neutral pronosupination for 4–6 weeks, followed by appropriate physiotherapy.
Results: At an average 18 months follow-up (6–36) 21 patients regained radioulnar stability (symmetrical passive displacement of the joint relative to the contralateral side). In two there was a limitation of more than 25° pronosupination. All 15 patients with a follow-up longer than one year had returned to their previous activities with a less than 20% loss of grip strength.
Conclussion: Tendon reconstruction as suggested by Adams& Berger is anatomically sound, and it has shown promising short term results, certainly superior to the results obtained with other soft-tissue reconstructions.
Theses abstracts were prepared by Professor Roger Lemaire. Correspondence should be addressed to EFORT Central Office, Freihofstrasse 22, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
(1) Journal of Hand Surgery, 27A: 243–251, 2002 Google Scholar
