Degenerative disorders of the wrist may affect isolated joints and inhibit normal
functions of the wrist secondary to pain and stiffness. These processes that affect
only the radiocarpal joint may be secondary to posttraumatic osteoarthritis, primary
osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Radiocarpal wrist arthrodesis may help preserve
some of the native wrist kinematics while alleviating pain and improving the range
of motion. However, the surgeon must ensure that the patient’s pathologic process
primarily affects the radiocarpal articulations while relatively sparing the midcarpal
articulations. Depending on the location of the pathology, isolated radiolunate or
radioscapholunate arthrodesis have been described to preserve some motion in the midcarpal
joint. To maximize motion in the midcarpal joint after radiocarpal arthrodesis, techniques
for distal scaphoid and triquetrum excision have been described. We report patient
outcomes for various techniques and describe our preferred technique for radioscapholunate
arthrodesis using distal scaphoid excision.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 28, 2022
Accepted:
April 2,
2022
Received:
January 28,
2020
Footnotes
Dr Weiss is financially involved with Medartis. No benefits in any form have been received or will be received by the other authors related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.
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© 2022 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. All rights reserved.
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