[Partial arthrodeses of the wrist: experimental studies]

The partial arthrodeses of the wrist joint are well known as a method of treatment of several articular pathologies. Although there exists controversies about the final range of motions. In the goal to compare the state of the ligaments to the final range of motions we realised some of the most popular intracarpal arthrodeses in an anatomical laboratory. For our study we used 10 fresh cadaver specimens with the mean age of 88 years (84-95). The arthrodeses were realised with Kirschner wires. Biggest range of motion (more than 70%) was obtained after scapho-lunatum, scapho-capitatum and luno-triquetrum arthrodeses, while after luno-capitatum, scapho-luno-capitatum and triquetro-hamato-luno-caitatum it was the poorest--less than 50% of the initial state. We found a correlation between the state of the ligaments and the final results--in specimens with tears of the ligaments the results were closer to the perfect-ones from the clinical series. In our opinion the measurement of radial and ulnar deviation in clinical practice is not exact and should not be considered in the elaboration of scientific databases.