This is a retrospective review of patients who underwent arthroscopically-assisted treatment of intraarticular distal radius fractures. The authors identified 13 patients with acute complete tears in the ulnar attachment of the TFCC, which were treated by arthroscopic repair in addition to stabilization of the radius fracture. The authors evaluated the patients at a mean of 24 months, with physical examination, x-rays, and Dash outcome scores.
The results were consistent with previous reports of arthroscopically assisted treatment of wrist fractures. The average grip strength was 78% of the uninjured side. In addition, the results of the Gartland and Werley grading system were good to excellent in 12 patients, and fair in 1 patient. Dash outcome scores revealed a mean functional score of 13 and an athletic score of 12. It is of note that none of the patients reported ulnar-sided wrist pain at follow-up despite four patients with an ulnar positive variance of 1.5mm. This study demonstrates that the ability to repair the triangular fibrocartilage acutely is possible and may be advantageous in arthroscopically-assisted treatment of distal radius fractures.
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Arthroscopy