The Crucial Role of Locking Screws in Total Wrist Arthroplasty: Should We Always Revise or Not?

We report a rare case in which the entire capitate was replaced by free nonvascularized autologous bone grafting due to a giant cell tumor. Moreover, a Maestro wrist prosthesis (second type) was subsequently implanted after two failed motion-preserving procedures. At the 6- and 8-year follow-ups, we observed complete but asymptomatic avascular bone necrosis around the entire capitate peg without evident failure of the carpal component. This case highlights the importance of locking screws in improving the longevity of total wrist arthroplasty by imitating external or internal fixation for bridging large bony defects in the long bones of the upper and lower extremities. However, loosening may occur in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe an uncommon finding that cannot be solely attributed to the natural course of periprosthetic osteolysis.