The carpometacarpal joint of the thumb is one of the most common locations of degenerative arthritis. Surgical options include trapezio-metacarpal fusion, replacement or resection arthroplasty with or without interposition.

We report the medium term results of a Modified Thompson's suspensionplasty. The radial half of the APL tendon was looped around the FCR tendon to create the suspension. The remainder of the tendon is then used for interposition.

We carried out a retrospective review of 50 patients (67 hands) who underwent this procedure from January 1999 to December 2005. There were 41 female (52 hands) and 9 male (15 hands). The average age at the time of surgery was 62 years (range 41 years – 79 years). The average follow up was 5.33 years (1-9 yrs). 22 patients also had a concurrent second procedure to the same thumb and a further three had a third procedure.

The average PRWHE score was 25 (0 – 80) and the average DASH score was 40 (24 – 100)

There were eight complications which included four persistent radial sided wrist pain. Two of these underwent tenotomy of FCR, whilst two responded to conservative measures. Two patients had symptoms related to scapho-trapezoid arthritis, which responded to an injection. One patient had superficial infection which settled with oral antibiotics, whilst another patient had early chronic regional pain syndrome. Overall the satisfaction rate was 90% with 48 patients (96%) willing to undergo the same procedure again.

We conclude that the modified Thompson's suspensionplasty gives excellent medium term results.