Arthroscopic surgery for traumatic triangular fibrocartilage complex injury

Abstract

Clinical characteristics, diagnostic imaging, arthroscopic findings, and surgical results of arthroscopic treatment are reported in 62 hands with traumatic triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) injury treated between 1995 and 2002. This retrospective study also describes and compares the results of a novel arthroscopic suture technique for repairing tears with Palmer’s class 1B and 1D tears. According to Palmer’s classification, there were 10 class 1A, 27 1B, 8 1C, and 17 1D injuries. The arthroscopic suture and débridement treatments were done under brachial plexus block as a 1-day in-hospital procedure. Class 1D tears required transradial fixation to anchor the TFCC. Surgical results of suture groups according to Minami’s criteria were excellent in 16 hands, good in 15 hands, fair in 1 hand, and poor in 1 hand. The results of the débridement group were excellent in 16 hands, good in 10 hands, fair in 2 hands, and poor in 1 hand. The results of the current study indicate that the novel suture technique were easy to perform, provided strong, tight repair for class 1D injuries, and was applicable for class 1B injuries in this small case series.