Advertisement
Research Article| Volume 4, ISSUE 2, P73-93, May 2004

Thumb carpometacarpal arthrosis

      Abstract

      Arthrosis of the thumb carpometacarpal joint is a very common, and often debilitating, affliction of postmenopausal women. Coexistent pathologic conditions are frequent. A thorough history and physical examination should lead the physician to an accurate diagnosis. Radiographs support the clinical suspicion and guide the treatment plan. Most patients, regardless of the severity of degeneration, will benefit from a conservative approach. However, when conservative management fails to relieve the patient’s symptoms adequately, surgical intervention is indicated. A plethora of surgical options are available, and controversy exists regarding the most effective surgical approach. Regardless of the technique used, one can usually expect pain relief, improved strength, and an overall increase in function. Therefore, satisfaction rates are high when surgery is performed on properly selected patients and associated conditions are addressed.
      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to Journal of Hand Surgery
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      References

        • Weiss S
        • LaStayo P
        • Mills A
        • Bramlet D
        Prospective analysis of splinting the first carpometacarpal joint.
        J Hand Ther. 2000; 13: 218-226
        • Strauch R.J
        • Rosenwasser M.P
        Thumb carpometacarpal joint.
        in: Weiss A.P.C Hastings H Surgery of the arthritic hand and wrist. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA2002: 106-110
        • Armstrong A.L
        • Hunter J.B
        • Davis T.R.C
        The prevalence of degenerative arthritis of the base of the thumb in post-menopausal women.
        J Hand Surg. 1994; 19B: 340-341
        • Xu L
        • Strauch R.J
        • Ateshian G.A
        • Pawluk R.J
        • Mow V.C
        • Rosenwasser M.P
        Topography of the osteoarthritic thumb carpometacarpal joint and its variations with regard to gender, age, and osteoarthritic stage.
        J Hand Surg. 1998; 23A: 454-464
        • Florack T.M
        • Miller R.J
        • Pellegrini V.D
        • Burton R.I
        • Dunn M.G
        The prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in patients with basal joint arthritis of the thumb.
        J Hand Surg. 1992; 17A: 624-630
        • Eaton R.G
        • Littler J.W
        Ligament reconstruction for the painful thumb carpometacarpal joint.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1973; 55A: 1655-1666
        • Varitimidis S.E
        • Fox R.J
        • King J.A
        • Taras J
        • Sotereanos D.G
        Trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty using the entire flexor carpi radialis tendon.
        Clin Orthop. 2000; 370: 164-170
        • Vandenbroucke J
        • De Schriver F
        • DeSmet L
        • Fabry G
        Simple trapezectomy for treatment of trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis of the thumb.
        Clin Rheum. 1997; 16: 239-242
        • Melone C.P
        • Beavers B
        • Isani A
        The basal joint pain syndrome.
        Clin Orthop. 1987; 220: 58-67
        • Eaton R.G
        • Glickel S.Z
        Trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis.
        Hand Clin. 1987; 3: 455-469
        • North E.R
        • Eaton R.G
        Degenerative arthritis of the trapezium.
        J Hand Surg. 1983; 8: 160-166
        • Cooke K.S
        • Singson R.D
        • Glickel S.Z
        • Eaton R.G
        Degenerative changes of the trapeziometacarpal joint.
        Skeletal Radiol. 1995; 24: 523-527
        • Hollister A.M
        • Giurintano D
        How joints move.
        in: Brand P.A Hollister A.M Clinical mechanics of the hand. 3rd ed. Mosby, St. Louis, MO1999: 34-60
        • Pellegrini V.D
        Osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint: the pathophysiology of articular cartilage degeneration. I. Anatomy and pathology of the aging joint.
        J Hand Surg. 1991; 16A: 967-974
        • Imaeda T
        • An K
        • Cooney W.P
        • Linscheid R.L
        Anatomy of the trapeziometacarpal ligaments.
        J Hand Surg. 1993; 18A: 226-231
        • Doerschuk S.H
        • Hicks D.G
        • Chinchilli V.M
        • Pellegrini V.D
        Histopathology of the palmar beak ligament in trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 1999; 24A: 496-504
        • Bettinger P.C
        • Smutz P
        • Linscheid R.L
        • Cooney W.P
        • An K
        Material properties of the trapezial and trapeziometacarpal ligaments.
        J Hand Surg. 2000; 25A: 1085-1095
        • Pellegrini V.D
        • Parentis M
        • Judkins A
        • Olmstead J
        • Olcott C
        Extension metacarpal osteotomy in the treatment of trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 1996; 21A: 16-23
        • Cooney W.P
        • Chao E.Y.S
        Biomechanical analysis of static forces in the thumb during hand function.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1977; 59A: 27-36
        • Pellegrini V.D
        Osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint: the pathophysiology of articular cartilage degeneration. II. Articular wear patterns in the osteoarthritic joint.
        J Hand Surg. 1991; 16A: 975-982
        • Athesian G.A
        • Rosenwasser M.P
        • Mow V.C
        Curvature characteristics and congruence of the thumb carpometacarpal joint.
        J Biomechanics. 1992; 25: 591-607
        • Tomaino M
        Treatment of Eaton stage I trapeziometacarpal disease with thumb metacarpal extension osteotomy.
        J Hand Surg. 2000; 25A: 1100-1106
        • Weinzweig J
        • Watson H.K
        Examination of the wrist.
        in: Watson H.K Weinzweig J The Wrist. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA2001: 47-59
        • Burton R.I
        Complications following surgery on the basal joint of the thumb.
        Hand Clin. 1986; 2: 265-269
        • Pellegrini V.D
        The basal articulations of the thumb.
        in: Peimer C.A Surgery of the Hand and Upper Extremity. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY1996: 1019-1042
        • Eaton R.G
        • Lane L.B
        • Littler J.W
        • Keyser J.J
        Ligament reconstruction for the painful thumb carpometacarpal joint.
        J Hand Surg. 1984; 9A: 692-699
        • Swigart C.R
        • Eaton R.G
        • Glickel S.Z
        • Johnson C
        Splinting in the treatment of arthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint.
        J Hand Surg. 1999; 24A: 86-91
        • Gervis W.H
        Excision of the trapezium for osteoarthritis of the trapezio-metacarpal joint.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1949; 31B: 537-539
        • Murley A.H.G
        Excision of the trapezium in osteoarthritis of the first carpo-metacarpal joint.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1960; 42B: 502-507
        • Dhar S
        • Gray I.C.M
        • Jones W.A
        • Beddow F.H
        Simple excision of the trapezium for osteoarthritis of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb.
        J Hand Surg. 1994; 19B: 485-488
        • Horlock N
        • Belcher H.J.C.R
        Early versus late mobilization after simple excision of the trapezium.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 2002; 84B: 1111-1115
        • Kuhns C.A
        • Emerson E.T
        • Meals R.A
        Hematoma and distraction arthroplasty for thumb basal joint osteoarthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 2003; 28A: 381-389
        • Yang S.S
        • Weiland A.J
        First metacarpal subsidence during pinch after ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition basal joint arthroplasty of the thumb.
        J Hand Surg. 1998; 23A: 879-883
        • Tomaino M.M
        • Pellegrini V.D
        • Burton R.I
        Arthroplasty of the basal joint of the thumb.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1995; 77A: 346-355
        • Downing N.D
        • Davis T.R.C
        Trapezial space height after trapeziectomy.
        J Hand Surg. 2001; 26A: 862-868
        • Burton R.I
        The arthritic hand.
        in: Evarts C.M Surgery of the muscoskeletal system. Churchill Livingstone, New York, NY1983: 670-681
        • Froimsom A
        Tendon arthroplasty of the trapeziometacarpal joint.
        Clin Orthop. 1970; 70: 191-199
        • Burton R.I
        • Pellegrini V.D
        Surgical management of basal joint arthritis of the thumb. Part II: Ligament reconstruction with tendon interposition arthroplasty.
        J Hand Surg. 1986; 11A: 324-332
        • Tomaino M.M
        Ligament reconstruction tendon interposition arthroplasty for basal joint arthritis.
        Hand Clin. 2001; 17: 207-221
        • Glickel S.Z
        • Kornstein A.N
        • Eaton R.G
        Long-term follow-up of trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty with coexisting scaphotrapezial disease.
        J Hand Surg. 1992; 17A: 612-620
        • Tomaino M.M
        • Coleman K
        Use of the entire width of the flexor carpi radialis tendon for the ligament reconstruction tendon interposition arthroplasty does not impair wrist function.
        Am J Orthop. 2000; 29: 283-284
        • Tomaino M
        • Vogt M
        • Weiser R
        Scaphotrapezoid arthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 1999; 24A: 1220-1224
        • Lins R.E
        • Gelberman R.H
        • McKeown L
        • Katz J.N
        • Kadiyala R.K
        Basal joint arthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 1996; 21A: 202-209
        • Thompson J.S
        Complications and salvage of trapeziometacarpal arthroplasties. In Programs and Abstracts of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgery.
        Instr Course Lect. 1989; 38: 3-13
        • Diao E
        Trapeziometacarpal arthritis; trapezium excision and ligament reconstruction not including the LRTI arthroplasty.
        Hand Clin. 2001; 17: 223-236
        • Strauch R.J
        Trapezial resection with suspension arthroplasty. 2002 (Presented at: The American Society for Surgery of the Hand 57th Annual Meeting; October 3, Phoenix, AZ)
        • Eaton R.G
        • Floyd W.E
        Thumb metacarpophalangeal capsulodesis.
        J Hand Surg. 1988; 13A: 461-465
        • Klimo G.F
        • Verma R.B
        • Baratz M.E
        The treatment of trapeziometacarpal arthritis with arthrodesis.
        Hand Clin. 2001; 17: 261-270
        • Hartigan B.J
        • Stern P.J
        • Kiefhaber T.R
        Thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 2001; 83A: 1470-1478
        • Clough D.A
        • Crouch C.C
        • Bennett J.B
        Failure of trapeziometacarpal arthrodesis with use of the Herbert screw and limited immobilization.
        J Hand Surg. 1990; 15A: 706-711
        • Caputo R.J
        • Bennett J.B
        Power staple fixation in trapeziometacarpal arthrodesis.
        J Hand Surg. 1993; 18A: 926-929
        • Chamay A
        • Piaget-Morerod F
        Arthrodesis of the trapeziometacarpal joint.
        J Hand Surg. 1994; 19B: 489-497
        • Bamberger H.B
        • Stern P.J
        • Kiefhaber T.R
        • McDonough J.J
        • Cantor R.M
        Trapeziometacarpal joint arthrodesis.
        J Hand Surg. 1992; 17A: 605-611
        • Mureau M.A.M
        • Raemaker R.P.C
        • Verhaar J.A.N
        • Hovius S.E.R
        Tendon interposition arthroplasty versus arthrodesis for the treatment of trapeziometacarpal arthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 2001; 26A: 869-876
        • Swanson A.B
        Disabling arthritis of the base of the thumb.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1972; 54A: 456-471
        • Peimer C.A
        Long-term complications of trapeziometacarpal silicone arthroplasty.
        Clin Orthop. 1987; 220: 86-98
        • Swanson A.B
        • Swanson G.D
        • Watermeier J.J
        Trapezium implant arthroplasty.
        J Hand Surg. 1981; 6: 125-141
        • Eaton R.G
        Replacement of the trapezium for arthritis of the basal articulations.
        J Bone Joint Surg. 1979; 61A: 76-82
        • Poppen N.K
        • Niebauer J.J
        “Tie-in” trapezium prosthesis.
        J Hand Surg. 1978; 3: 445-450
        • Pellegrini V.D
        • Burton R.I
        Surgical management of basal joint arthritis of the thumb. Part I. Long-term results of silicone implant arthroplasty.
        J Hand Surg. 1986; 11A: 309-324
        • Sotereanous D.G
        • Taras J
        • Urbaniak J.R
        Niebauer trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty; a long-term follow-up.
        J Hand Surg. 1993; 18A: 560-564
        • Creighton J.J
        • Steichen J.B
        • Satrickland J.W
        Long-term evaluation of silastic trapezial arthroplasty in patients with osteoarthritis.
        J Hand Surg. 1991; 16A: 510-519