Stabilized resection arthroplasty by an anterior approach in trapeziometacarpal arthritis: results and surgical technique.

Resection arthroplasties were performed through a carpal tunnel incision in 72 hands of 57 patients with trapeziometacarpal joint arthritis and coexistent pathology of the anterior hand or wrist. Sixty-nine hands were followed for an average of 44 (range, 12-74 months). Pain relief was excellent in 60 hands, good in 7, and fair in 2, and thumb motion was satisfactory in 64 hands. Mean strength increase was 30%. Scaphometacarpal space loss was 0.5 mm each year, and residual space averaged 3.1 mm at 60 months. There were two failures. The study corroborated the frequent coexistence of other pathology of the anterior area of the hand and wrist, specifically, carpal tunnel syndrome and flexor carpi radialis tenosynovitis. Furthermore it demonstrated the possibility of an anterior approach to treat these conditions via the same incision. After 5 years, functional results remained good despite progressive collapse of the scaphometacarpal space.