Wrist arthroscopy for the treatment of ligament and triangular fibrocartilage complex injuries

The use of arthroscopy was evaluated in 47 patients who were treated for suspected triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) tears, scapholunate (SL) tears, and/or lunotriquetral (LT) tears. Wrist arthroscopy was performed using traction and standard portals. Any TFCC tear found was debrided to a stable rim. SL and LT tears were debrided to bleeding bone. The range of follow-up was 1.5 to 50 months (average, 15.4 months). Patient grading was determined usin the Mayo Modified Wrist Score. For the 28 patients with TFCC tears, the results were excellent in 13, good in 8, fair in 2, and poor in 5. For the 23 patients with SL tears, the results were 11, 9, 1, and 2, respectively. Of the 5 patients with LT tears, 1 result was excellent, and 4 were poor. Workers compensation did not affect results. Arthroscopic debridement of SL and TFCC tears has proven effective. Debridement of LT tears has not been as successful. Based on our results, we feel that arthroscopic debridement of SL and TFCC tears is warranted.