Distal Pole Resection of the Scaphoid for the Treatment of Scaphotrapeziotrapezoid Osteoarthritis.

Abstract

Distal pole resection of the scaphoid is one of the surgical techniques applied for the treatment of painful scaphotrapeziotrapezoid osteoarthritis (STT-OA). In this retrospective study, we evaluated midterm outcomes in a consecutive series of patients who underwent distal pole resection of the scaphoid: 13 patients (15 wrists) with a mean follow-up of 4.1 years. We examined objective functional and patient-reported outcome measures. In addition, we assessed the degree of dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) and postoperative complications. All patients scored within a normal range on objective functional and patient-reported outcome measures. We observed a mild postoperative DISI deformity with an average lunocapitate angle of 22° (range, 0°-44°), which did not correlate with pain scores. In the opposite wrists, with and without STT-OA, the average lunocapitate angle was 6° (range, 0°-20°). According to this study, midterm results for distal pole resection of the scaphoid are satisfactory.