Tendon Arthroplasty for Treatment of Trapeziometacarpal Arthrosis

Trapeziometacarpal arthrcsis is common among middle-aged women, and the surgical treatment options include arthrodesis, excision of the trapezium, prosthetic replacement of the trapezium, reconstruction of the ligaments, and various tendoplasties. We have prospectively studied a simple tendoplasty in which a strip of abductor pollicis longus tendon was anchored to the flexor carpi radialis tendon, the intact part of the abductor pollicis tendon, and the joint capsule, after excision of the trapezium, and carried out 27 operations in 25 patients. The thumb was immobilised for only eight days. Systematic exercises were started on the day of operation. Complete pain relief was obtained in 17 patients and partial relief in eight. Grip strength improved. The mobility was unaltered and functionally satisfactory. Three patients were reoperated on for cutaneous nerve entrapment and one for carpal tunnel syndrome. The procedure is simple, and the patients' symptoms improved without failures. The intensive supervised postoperative physiotherapy was essential to achieve the final results.     

Dislocation of the Trapezium (Multangulum Majus): A Case Report A Case Report

A case of complete, closed dislocation of the trapezium is reported. The treatment was open reposition and fixation with two Kirschner wires. No avascular necrosis occurred. Two and a half years after the injury there were no subjective complaints, the mobility and strength of the thumb were normal and there were no radiological signs of arthrosis.     

Excision of the trapezium for osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint: a study of the benefit of ligament reconstruction or tendon interposition

PURPOSE: To investigate whether palmaris longus interposition or flexor carpi radialis ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition improved the outcome of excision of the trapezium for the treatment of painful osteoarthritis of the trapeziometacarpal joint. METHODS: 183 thumbs with trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis were randomized for treatment by either simple trapeziectomy, trapeziectomy with palmaris longus interposition, or trapeziectomy with ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition using 50% of the flexor carpi radialis tendon. A K-wire was passed across the trapezial void during each of the 183 surgeries to hold the base of the thumb metacarpal at the level of the index carpometacarpal joint and was retained for 4 weeks in every case. All patients wore a thumb splint for 6 weeks. Each patient had subjective and objective assessments of thumb pain, stiffness, and strength before surgery and at 3 months and 1 year after surgery. RESULTS: The 3 treatment groups were well matched for age, dominance, and presence of associated conditions. Complications were distributed evenly among the 3 groups and no cases of subluxation/dislocation of the pseudarthrosis were observed. Of the 183 thumbs 82% achieved good pain relief and 68% regained sufficient strength to allow normal activities of daily living at the 1-year follow-up evaluation. Neither of these subjective outcomes nor the range of thumb movement was influenced by the type of surgery performed. Thumb key-pinch strength improved significantly from 3.5 kg before surgery to 4.6 kg at 1 year but the improvement in strength was not influenced by the type of surgery performed. CONCLUSIONS: The outcomes of these 3 variations of trapeziectomy were very similar at 1-year follow-up evaluation. In the short term at least there appears to be no benefit to tendon interposition or ligament reconstruction.     

Hematoma and distraction arthroplasty for thumb basal joint osteoarthritis: minimum 6.5-year follow-up evaluation

PURPOSE: Although hematoma and distraction arthroplasty has been found to be successful in the treatment of thumb basal joint arthritis in the short term, questions about its efficacy in the long term have been raised. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the results of this procedure in patients at least 6.5 years after surgery. METHODS: Twenty-two thumbs from 22 patients from a single surgeon's practice were entered into a prospective single-arm study for surgical treatment of basal thumb arthritis. Treatment consisted of piecemeal excision of the entire trapezium and 5 weeks of K-wire immobilization of the thumb metacarpal in opposition and slight distraction. No ligament reconstruction or tendon interposition was used. Motion, strength, standardized dexterity tests, stress radiographs, and outcome questionnaires including the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 were evaluated before surgery and at 6, 24, and at least 79 months after surgery. RESULTS: At 6 months after surgery, 17 of 22 patients reported complete pain relief, and at the most recent follow-up evaluation (average, 88 months after surgery) 18 patients were entirely pain free. Range-of-motion evaluation at the most recent follow-up evaluation showed 21 of 22 thumbs adducted fully into the plane of the palm, and 21 of 22 opposed to the small finger metacarpal head. Comparisons between preoperative and the recent postoperative strength measurements showed an average of 21% increase in grip strength and tip pinch strength, and an 11% increase in key pinch strength over preoperative values. Although the radiographically determined scaphoid-thumb metacarpal distance decreased with time from surgery, no correlation with strength or functional outcome measurements was found. The Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 data showed postoperative improvement in the hand and finger function and arthritis pain scales. CONCLUSIONS: After trapezial excision, K-wire immobilization in a slightly overcorrected position without formal interposition or ligament reconstruction allows for restoration and maintenance of a stable, pain-free thumb that has comparable strength and motion with published reports of more complicated interventions over comparable time periods. TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, Level IV.     

Solitary osteochondroma of the trapezium: case report

Osteochondroma of the carpal is rare. We found only 1 case of osteochondroma of the trapezium in the literature. We present a case of a 52-year-old woman with an osteochondroma of the left trapezium and trapeziometacarpal arthritis.     

舟骨、大、小多角骨的临床解剖学研究

目的为舟骨、大、小多角骨融合术的手术方式及新式内固定器械的研制提供解剖学依据.方法解剖32侧成人上肢标本,首先在舟骨和大、小多角骨关节正常状态下测量舟骨大多角骨间距;舟骨小多角骨间距以及大、小多角骨间距.然后解剖出上述3骨,观察骨性标志及各骨形态,测量各骨长度、宽度及厚度.结果舟骨、大多角骨及小多角骨有较恒定的骨性标志.舟骨、大多角骨间距为(38.60±1.70)mm,舟骨、小多角骨间距为(32.14±2.22)mm,大、小多角骨间距为(30.73±1.95)mm.大多角骨厚度最小,为(10.36±0.83)mm.结论(1)按照舟骨、大多角骨、小多角骨骨性标志制定的测量标准可初步量化形态不规则的腕骨;(2)依据测量数据进行舟骨、大小多角骨融合术,可避免损伤邻近关节,减少并发症,提高舟骨和大、小多角骨融合率.(3)测量的相关数据,为舟骨和大、小多角骨融合术内固定器械研制的关键参数.     

Poor results of distal trapezium resection for trapeziometacarpal-1 osteoarthritis

Eleven patients (mean age 54 years, range 46–67 years) with osteoarthritis limited to the trapeziometacarpal-1 joint underwent a distal trapezium resection. In nine cases the palmaris longus tendon and in two cases a Swanson condylar implant was used as interposition material. The results were very disappointing. Only one patient was satisfied. Nine patients were reoperated upon (mean interval period 43 months, range 3–110) because of pain. In two cases, the cause was dislocation of the Swanson condylar implant. In the other seven cases, prominent bone on the trapezium, ulnar osteophytes, scaphotrapezial osteoarthritis, sclerosis of the trapezium remnant, and impingement were causal factors. In future, the selection of patients for this operation will be performed with even greater care. Despite these poor results, a definitive conclusion about the indication for this procedure can only be made after evaluation of an improved operative procedure. Received: 7 June 1999 / Accepted: 6 July 1999