Hand/Wrist News

Regardless of whether a clinical or electrodiagnostic reference standard was used, the scratch collapse test had high specificity but low sensitivity for carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome, according to published results.

Patients with distal radius fractures who received digital media therapy after volar open reduction and internal fixation had significant improvements in functional outcomes in the early rehabilitation period compared with patients who underwent traditional therapy, according to results.

Results showed comparable preoperative pain scores and opioid medication usage between patients who did and those who did not undergo reduction prior to surgical intervention of isolated, closed, neurovascularly intact, displaced distal radius fractures.

Implementation of anatomic and procedure-specific opioid-prescribing guidelines may effectively reduce inadvertent overprescribing of opioids while maintaining patient satisfaction and minimizing refill demands among patients undergoing upper extremity surgery, according to results.

Scapholunate dissociation is a difficult and unresolved problem in orthopedic hand surgery. Scapholunate ligament repair alone leads to failure and progression of scapholunate advanced collapse wrist in 30% of patients within 6 months. Delays in presentation, often years after injury, can dramatically increase the level of complexity and worsen prognosis. Traditionally, the treatment options for advanced arthritis have been bleak, including salvage options such as scaphoid excision and four-corner fusion or proximal row carpectomy. For mostly young and active patients, these options leave them limited in their physical and occupational demands.

Results showed an association of fewer skin complications and less orthotic-related pain with use of a casting orthosis for mallet finger immobilization compared with a traditional thermoplastic splint.

Use of 3D-printed cementless prosthesis reconstruction for treatment of Campanacci III or recurrent giant cell tumors of the distal radius may provide improved outcomes compared with allograft reconstruction, according to published results.

EFORT Open Reviews is the new open access journal from EFORT and Bone & Joint Publishing. All articles are free to read online with no subscription required.

Patients with hand osteoarthritis with higher serum high-sensitive C-reactive protein and low HDL levels may have a higher prevalence of concurrent rotator cuff tears, according to published results.

A 50-year-old right-hand-dominant woman with a history of a left distal radius fracture presented to the orthopedic clinic 5 weeks after a ground-level fall. She was told at the time of her initial injury that she had sustained a distal radius fracture, but she did not feel an urgency to follow up because she had a low-demand occupation. At her initial visit, there was no gross motion at the fracture site and the patient was not interested in operative intervention. Subsequently, she was lost to follow-up until 3 months post-injury. At that time, she reported a pain-free period after her last visit followed by new onset ulnar-sided left wrist pain that occurred mostly during pushing and pulling activity. On exam, the patient was noted to have minimal radial- sided tenderness. On the ulnar side, there was significant tenderness over the extensor carpi ulnaris. Range of motion testing revealed 20° less wrist extension compared with the contralateral side.