Biometry of the capsular ligaments of the wrist

Abstract

The aim of our study was to measure the length, width and inclination in the coronal plane of the capsular ligaments, and to express these measurements as a ratio in order to determine the correlation between these parameters and the bone index. The capsular ligaments were studied from 15 cadaveric upper limbs. We identified 11 volar and 2 dorsal intracapsular ligaments. For each ligament, we measured the length to its middle and to its proximal and distal edge, the width at its average portion, and the inclination in the frontal plane. There was a difference between the proximal or distal length and the middle length for four ligaments. In these cases, however, there was a significant correlation between the proximal or distal length and the middle length. The length of capitate, the length of the third metacarpal bone, and the carpal height were significantly correlated with four ligaments. There were correlations between the length of one ligament and that of all others. There was no correlation between the inclination of the radius and the inclination of ligaments in the coronal plane. Nevertheless, there were six significant correlations between the inclination of one ligament and that of all others.