The rheumatoid wrist after resection of the distal ulna

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Journal of Hand Surgery - St Louis. 10(6 Pt 1):837-44, 1985 Nov. Thirty-three wrists in 25 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were followed x for an average of 3.8 years after resection of the distal ulna. These x patients, including those who had adjunctive implantation of a silicone x rubber cap, manifested considerable amounts of carpal collapse, carpal x translocation, rotational change of the wrist, and radial shift of the x ulna. The progression of these complications was unpredictable. Four x patients required revision. Three of these four patients had no articular x contact between the lunate and radius on their preoperative x-ray film. x Excision of less than 20 mm of the distal ulna is an acceptable range of x resection. In 15% of the wrists, an osseous carpal stabilizer was seen on x the preoperative x-ray film as a reliable radiographic indicator of x radiocarpal stability. Another 12% of patients developed a bony carpal x stabilizer during the postoperative period. x