CORR Insights: Prevalence of triangular fibrocartilage complex abnormalities regardless of symptoms rise with age: systematic review and pooled analysis.

Abstract

C han and colleagues have attempted to ask a relevant clinical question regarding the evaluation of triangular fibrocartilage complex lesions (TFCC) of the wrist: What relationships exist between TFCC tears, age, and pain? All too often we have patients who have been referred to us for wrist pain and have been diagnosed as having a ‘‘tear’’ involving the TFCC. Moreover, patients may or may not have a history of a traumatic event precipitating the pain. Unfortunately, our diagnostic evaluation of ulnar-sided wrist pain has not changed substantially for several decades now. We know from our experience in other orthopaedic clinical problems that the simple presence of a radiographic finding does not necessarily mean that the finding is generating the pain. Patients with low-back pain often have radiographic findings that are not clinically relevant. SLAP lesions of the shoulder, likewise, often are asymptomatic, coincidental findings were noted on MRIs in the workup of shoulder pain.