What is the arthrodesis of the wrist?

wrist arthrodesis is a surgical procedure to reduce pain caused by wrist arthropathy; Wrist arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis; or damage to the wrist as a result of trauma, such as a broken bone. The procedure has the result that the bones on the wrist joint are joined together and alleviate the bone pain in contact with the bone. The wrist arthrodesis results in a loss of wrist movement, but most patients can adapt to physical therapy and can do most of them, not all, activities that are looking forward to surgery.

patients who require procedure usually suffer from swelling of soft tissue around the wrist, pain accompanying wrist, reduced functionality of the hand and sometimes partial deformity of the wrist and hand. The pain tends to be serious and permanent. It is common for patients to be treated with anti -inflammatory drugs and it is recommended to reduce the movement of the wrist, sometimes by using the splint. If this Fail treatment to solve the problem is often at this point doctors discover the erosion of the soft cover toThe joint that allows bones in contact with the bone usually requires arthrodesis of the wrist.

There are three primary ways to combine wrist bones in wrist arthrodes: grafting a new bone on the old bones, grafting synthetic bone on the damaged areas or by means of pressure plates as a fusion agent. If they graft bones, doctors usually prefer to use donated bone material, unlike the graft from another part of the patient's body; This helps to reduce trauma associated with surgery. Sophisticated synthetic bone material is also more and more available, some of which are designed to facilitate bone growth. Pressure metal plates have the advantage of reducing the need for postoperative restrictions of the movement with splints or castings.

After the arthrodeship of the wrist, the patient cannot bend the wrist as possible before surgery, albeit with considerable pain. DoctorsCage recommends physical therapy so that patients can learn to adapt to the use of the hand without accustomed wrist movement. In some types of wrist arthrodesis, the first step is to keep the wrist immobilized for four to six weeks.

Many patients who had a report on the procedure adapt to movement loss and reconnecting most manual functions. In patients with wrist arthodsis, it is common for the grasping force to be reduced. Activities involving hand insertion into a narrow place are also usually more difficult due to movement loss.