Silicone wrist implant: long-term follow-up study.

Nineteen patients with 20 silicone rubber wrist implants of the Swanson design were followed for an average of 6 years. Sixty-five percent of the patients experienced little or no wrist pain after the operation. There was an average of 24 degrees of wrist flexion and 21 degrees of extension. Implant fracture occurred in 65% of the patients. This was not necessarily correlated with clinical symptoms. Subsidence of the implant occurred 100% of the time. Revision procedures were done after six (30%) of the procedures. There was no evidence of radiographic change suggesting silicone synovitis. There is a progressive deterioration in the radiographic appearance and the clinical result after use of this implant. Salvage by means of radiocarpal arthrodesis, or a soft tissue arthroplasty, has been successful in our patients.