Carpometacarpal Research Articles

Arthroscopic Hemitrapeziectomy and Extensor Carpis Radialis Longus Suspensioplasty With Intermetacarpal Ligament Reconstruction for Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Osteoarthritis: Surgical Technique.

Level IV.

Contribution of Soft Tissue Passive Forces in Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Distraction.

Thumb carpometacarpal joint space changes when the surrounding soft tissues including the capsule, ligaments, and tendons are stretched or pulled away. When at rest, joint forces originate from passive contraction of muscles and the involvement of joint capsule and ligaments. Previous biomechanical models of hand and finger joints have mostly focused on the assessment of joint properties when muscles were active. This study aims to present an experimental-numerical biomechanical model of thumb carpometacarpal joint to explore the contribution of tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues in the passive forces during distraction. Five fresh cadaveric specimens were tested using a distractor device to measure the applied forces upon gradual distraction of the intact joint. The subsequent step involved inserting a minuscule sensor into the joint capsule through a small incision, while preserving the integrity of tendons and ligaments, in order to accurately measure the fundamental intra-articular forces. A numerical model was also used to calculate the passive forces of tendons and ligaments. Before the separation of bones, the forces exerted by tendons and ligaments were relatively small compared to the capsule force, which accounted for approximately 92% of the total applied force. Contribution of tendons and ligaments, however, increased by further distraction. The passive force contribution by tendons at 2-mm distraction was determined less than 11%, whereas it reached up to 74% for the ligaments. The present study demonstrated that the ligament-capsule complex plays significant contribution in passive forces of thumb carpometacarpal joint during distraction.

Disease severity versus pain severity: Range of motion differences during single- and multiplanar tasks in women with carpometacarpal osteoarthritis.

In carpometacarpal osteoarthritis (CMC OA) of the thumb, to what extent treatments should be directed by radiographic disease severity versus pain-based indicators remains an open question. To address this gap, this study investigated the relative impact of disease severity and pain severity on the range of motion in participants with CMC OA. We hypothesized larger differences would exist between extremes in the pain severity cohort than the disease severity cohort, suggesting pain modulates movement to a greater extent than joint degradation. Thirty-one female participants (64.6 ± 10.9 years) were grouped as symptomatic or asymptomatic (pain severity cohort) and early stage OA or end-stage OA (disease severity cohort) using radiographs and questionnaires. Kinematics were measured during single-planar and multiplanar range of motion tasks. Joint angle differences between groups were statistically compared. Differences in self-reported pain, function, and disability were evident in both participant cohorts. Notably, substantial distinctions emerged exclusively during multiplanar tasks, with a greater prevalence in the disease severity cohort compared to the pain severity cohort. Participants with end-stage OA also exhibited similar overall area covered during circumduction in comparison to those with early-stage OA, despite having a decreased range of motion at the CMC joint. The study underscores the importance of assessing multiplanar tasks, potentially leading to earlier identification of CMC OA. While movement compensations such as employing the distal thumb joints over the CMC joint were observed, delving deeper into the interplay between pain and movement could yield greater insight into the underlying factors steering these compensatory mechanisms.

Artificial intelligence model for segmentation and severity scoring of osteophytes in hand osteoarthritis on ultrasound images.

To develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model able to perform both segmentation of hand joint ultrasound images for osteophytes, bone, and synovium and perform osteophyte severity scoring following the EULAR-OMERACT grading system (EOGS) for hand osteoarthritis (OA). One hundred sixty patients with pain or reduced function of the hands were included. Ultrasound images of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP), proximal interphalangeal (PIP), distal interphalangeal (DIP), and first carpometacarpal (CMC1) joints were then manually segmented for bone, synovium and osteophytes and scored from 0 to 3 according to the EOGS for OA. Data was divided into a training, validation, and test set. The AI model was trained on the training data to perform bone, synovium, and osteophyte identification on the images. Based on the manually performed image segmentation, an AI was trained to classify the severity of osteophytes according to EOGS from 0 to 3. Percent Exact Agreement (PEA) and Percent Close Agreement (PCA) were assessed on individual joints and overall. PCA allows a difference of one EOGS grade between doctor assessment and AI. A total of 4615 ultrasound images were used for AI development and testing. The developed AI model scored on the test set for the MCP joints a PEA of 76% and PCA of 97%; for PIP, a PEA of 70% and PCA of 97%; for DIP, a PEA of 59% and PCA of 94%, and CMC a PEA of 50% and PCA of 82%. Combining all joints, we found a PEA between AI and doctor assessments of 68% and a PCA of 95%. The developed AI model can perform joint ultrasound image segmentation and severity scoring of osteophytes, according to the EOGS. As proof of concept, this first version of the AI model is successful, as the agreement performance is slightly higher than previously found agreements between experts when assessing osteophytes on hand OA ultrasound images. The segmentation of the image makes the AI explainable to the doctor, who can immediately see why the AI applies a given score. Future validation in hand OA cohorts is necessary though.

Deep learning for synovial volume segmentation of the first carpometacarpal joint in osteoarthritis patients

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to develop a deep-learning-based approach to automatically segment 3D ultrasound images of the synovial tissue in osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal (CMC1 OA). DesignDeep learning predictions on 2D ultrasound slices sampled in the transverse plane were used to view the synovial tissue of the first carpometacarpal in patients with OA, followed by reconstruction into 3D surfaces. A modified 2D U-Net was trained using a dataset of 832 2D US images resliced from 89 3D US images. Segmentation accuracy was evaluated using a testing dataset of 208 2D US images resliced from 15 3D US images. Absolute and signed performance metrics were computed, and segmentation performance was compared between the manual segmentations of raters 1 and 2. ResultsResults of the U-Net-based run were mean 3D DSC 86.9 ± 4.8%, recall 93.7 ± 3.6%, precision 81.1 ± 6.9%, volume percent difference 16.9 ± 10.2%, mean surface distance 0.18 ± 0.04 mm, and Hausdorff distance 1.8 ± 0.8 mm. The algorithm demonstrated an overall increase in performance after 3D segmentation reconstruction compared to 2D predictions, but the difference was not statistically significant. ConclusionThis study investigated the use of a modified U-Net algorithm to automatically segment the synovial tissue volume (STV) of CMC1 OA patients and demonstrated that the addition of this deep learning method increases the efficiency of STV estimations in clinical trial settings.

Arthrographic description of the canine carpal joint cavities and its recesses.

Joint effusion is diagnostically important. The canine carpal joint effusion, which is sometimes difficult to detect clinically, has received less attention in diagnostic ultrasound (US) studies. The aim of the present study was to provide a description of the morphological appearance of the canine carpal joint cavities and recesses using US, radiography, helical computed tomography (CT) and three-dimensional volume rendering technique (3D-VRT) images and to prove the applicability of musculoskeletal US for the detection of artificial carpal joint effusion in dogs. The understanding of the characteristics of these structures in normal patients is essential in the diagnosis. Twenty-eight clinically and radiologically unremarkable canine carpal cadavers of different breeds were examined, representative images were selected and anatomical structures were labelled. The canine carpal joint cavities and in particular its recesses had a complex appearance with a basic structure found in all dogs: Antebrachiocarpal joint: dorsoproximal antebrachiocarpal recess, dorsodistal antebrachiocarpal recess, medial antebrachiocarpal recess, lateral antebrachiocarpal recess and five palmar antebrachiocarpal recesses. Middle carpal joint: two dorsal middle carpal recesses, medial common middle carpal and carpometacarpal recess, lateral common middle carpal and carpometacarpal recess, four palmar middle carpal recesses. The carpometacarpal joint had dorsal and palmar funnel-shaped and irregular, finely tubular extensions, the most prominent ran dorsal to metacarpal III, the maximum distal end represented the proximal metacarpal diaphysis. All recesses presented ultrasonographically as a generalized anechogenic to hypoechoic filled continuation of the articular capsule with an indistinct peripheral hypoechogenic to isoechogenic fine capsule, the synovial-connective tissue interface was difficult to identify. The novel results of this study provide the first morphological description of the ultrasonographic, radiographic and computed tomographic arthrographic appearance of the canine carpal joint cavities and recesses with different injection volumes. The canine carpal joint cavities and in particular its recesses had a complex appearance with a basic structure found in all dogs. The applicability of musculoskeletal US to visualize an artificial carpal effusion has been demonstrated. The results of this study, and in particular US, give the practitioner an advantage in visualizing joint effusion and assist in the decision to perform arthrocentesis.

Estimation of radiographic joint space of the trapeziometacarpal joint with computed tomographic validation.

Joint space width (JSW) is a common metric used to evaluate joint structure on plain radiographs. For the hand, quantitative techniques are available for evaluation of the JSW of finger joints; however, such techniques have been difficult to establish for the trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint. This study aimed to develop a validated method for measuring the radiographic joint space of the healthy TMC joint. Computed tomographic scans were taken of 15 cadaveric hands. The location of a JSW analysis region on the articular surface of the first metacarpal was established in 3D space and standardized in a 2D projection. The standardized region was applied to simulated radiographic images. A correction factor was defined as the ratio of the CT-based and radiograph-based joint space measurements. Leave-one-out validation was used to correct the radiograph-based measurements. A t-test was used to evaluate the difference between CT-based and corrected radiograph-based measurements (). The CT-based and radiograph-based measurements of JSW were and , respectively. The correction factor for radiograph-based joint space was . Before correction, the difference between the CT-based and radiograph-based joint space was 1.43mm [95% CI: ; ]. After correction, the difference was [95% CI: ; ]. Corrected measurements of radiographic TMC JSW agreed well with CT-measured JSW. With in-vivo validation, the developed methodology has potential for automated and accurate radiographic measurement of TMC JSW.

The effect of trapeziometacarpal joint passive stiffness on mechanical loadings of cartilages

Hypermobility of the trapeziometacarpal joint is commonly considered to be a potential risk factor for osteoarthritis. Nevertheless, the results remain controversial due to a lack of quantitative validation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of joint laxity on the mechanical loadings of cartilage.A patient-specific finite element model of trapeziometacarpal joint passive stiffness was developed. The joint passive stiffness was modeled by creating linear springs all around the joint. The linear spring stiffness was determined by using an optimization process to fit force–displacement data measured during laxity tests performed on eight healthy volunteers. The estimated passive stiffness parameters were then included in a full thumb finite element simulation of a pinch grip task driven by muscle forces to evaluate the effect on trapeziometacarpal loading. The correlation between stiffness and the loading of cartilage in terms of joint contact pressure and maximum shear strain was analyzed.A significant negative correlation was found between the trapeziometacarpal joint passive stiffness and the contact pressure on trapezium cartilage during the simulated pinch grip task.These results therefore suggest that the hypermobility of the trapeziometacarpal joint could affect the contact pressure on trapezium cartilage and support the existence of an increased risk associated with hypermobility.

The BioPro Thumb Carpometacarpal Hemiarthroplasty: Case Series and Surgical Technique.

Thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) osteoarthritis is painful and debilitating. Here, we explore outcomes of a modular, press-fit thumb CMC hemiarthroplasty prosthesis (BioPro). This surgical option permits minimal bone resection, sparing the trapezium, hence allowing revision options if necessary. A retrospective review of all cases of the modular thumb CMC implants performed at one community US center between 2018 and 2021 were included and invited for email or telephone review. Electronic records were examined for demographics, patient outcomes, and morbidity. Eleven patients underwent 11 thumb CMC joint hemiarthroplasties, mean age was 64.8 years (SD: 7.68y), with 6 females. Six received surgery on their dominant extremity. Two were manual workers (both in the medical field), 6 office-based, 2 retired, and 1 homemaker. The preoperative median pain score (Visual Analog Score) was 8/10 (range: 5 to 10), reducing to 1/10 (range: 1 to 10) ( P =0.000033) with a median follow-up of 23 months (range: 13 to 39mo). In all, 8/11 patients reported they would recommend this surgery to friends and family and opt for the same surgery on their contralateral hand if necessary. One patient reported persistent pain a year postoperatively. On review, the head of the implant was placed too deep into the trapezium. Another center found that this patient had a postoperative trapezium fracture and underwent revision with implant removal and conversion to a suspension arthroplasty. At 12 months, 10/11 thumb CMC hemiarthroplasty showed good pain relief, function, and patient satisfaction. The BioPro has a low risk of subluxation and allows salvage options to remain available should failure occur.

A rare case of solitary exostosis of capitate

Exostosis arising from carpal bones is rare and only a few cases have been reported till date. A 29 years old female came to the outpatient department with a localized swelling present on the dorsum of her right wrist since the past three years. On examining the patient clinically, a well-defined protuberance was observed over the dorsal aspect of the right wrist. CT report showed bony outgrowth over the dorsum of the capitate extending beyond the carpometacarpal joint. In surgical intervention, the mass was removed from the base, which grossly had an appearance of chondral origin. The biopsy report confirmed the diagnosis of exostosis (osteochondroma). Hence, excising the exostosis surgically led to achievement of adequate motion of the patient's wrist along with the additional cosmetic correction benefit.

Thumb Arthroplasty as Reliable Long-term Solution for Trapeziometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A Minimum of 15 Years of Follow-up.

In patients with symptomatic trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint arthritis resistant to conservative treatment, surgical treatment can be advised. One of the many surgical treatment options is TMC arthroplasty. The Arpe prosthesis is one example of these TMC arthroplasties. This retrospective study evaluated patients who underwent TMC arthroplasty with the Arpe prosthesis after a minimum of 15 years of follow-up. Clinical, radiologic, and qualitative outcomes were assessed for 43 Arpe arthroplasties in 41 patients, of whom 2 had bilateral arthroplasties. The female to male ratio was 39:4. The mean follow-up time was 197 months (range = 180-225). The cumulative survival rate after a mean of 16.5 years was 84%. Seven failures (16%) were registered, of which 5 during the first 3 years after primary surgery. All patients were successfully converted to a trapeziectomy. Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score improved with 44.9 points and visual analogue pain score with 97% and 91% at rest and during exercise, respectively. This series demonstrates that thumb arthroplasty is a reliable long-term solution for thumb base arthritis, with significant pain reduction and functional improvement, even after 15 years of follow-up.

Arthroscopic Hemitrapeziectomy: Is an Internal Brace Worth It?

This article's purpose was to analyze clinical results obtained with thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) arthroscopic hemitrapeziectomy with temporary suspension with a Kirschner wire (K-wire). Seventy thumb CMC arthroscopic hemitrapeziectomies with a mean age of 59 and 18 months of follow-up were performed in our center during a 13-year period. All of them followed the same protocol. Surgical technique is described. All patients were arthroscopically classified as Badia's III stage. No tendon interposition was used, and a K-wire was temporarily implanted for 5.1 weeks. Mean postsurgical Visual Analogue Scale of 1.6, Kapandji Opposition Score of 8.1, grip strength of 42.2 lbs, lateral pinch of 9.5 lbs, tip-to-tip pinch of 4.2 lbs and tripod pinch of 7.8 lbs were measured. All previous active workers resumed their previous job. We conclude that thumb CMC arthroscopic hemitrapeziectomy with temporary suspension with K-wire reaches good results in terms of pain reduction, strength, and functionality, without the necessity of an internal brace which increases risks of a second metacarpal fracture.

Development of an implantable trapezium carpal bone replacement for measuring in vivo loads at the base of the thumb

Understanding the loads that occur across musculoskeletal joints is critical to advancing our understanding of joint function and pathology, implant design and testing, as well as model verification. Substantial work in these areas has occurred in the hip and knee but has not yet been undertaken in smaller joints, such as those in the wrist. The thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint is a uniquely human articulation that is also a common site of osteoarthritis with unknown etiology. We present two potential designs for an instrumented trapezium implant and compare approaches to load calibration. Two instrumented trapezia designs were prototyped using strain gauge technology: Tube and Diaphragm. The Tube design is a well-established structure for sensing loads while the Diaphragm is novel. Each design was affixed to a 6-DOF load cell that was used as the reference. Loads were applied manually, and two calibration methods, supervised neural network (DEEP) and matrix algebra (MAT), were implemented. Bland-Altman 95% confidence interval for the limits of agreement (95% CI LOA) was used to assess accuracy. Overall, the DEEP calibration decreased 95% CI LOA compared with the MAT approach for both designs. The Diaphragm design outperformed the Tube design in measuring the primary load vector (joint compression). Importantly, the Diaphragm design permits the hermetic encapsulation of all electronics, which is not possible with the Tube design, given the small size of the trapezium. Substantial work remains before this device can be approved for implantation, but this work lays the foundation for further device development that will be required.

Thumb Carpometacarpal Hemi-trapeziectomy: Creating a Balanced Arthroplasty

Background: Thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint arthritis is commonly encountered in Hand Surgery practice and can be quite disabling. Surgery is the best option for patients who have failed conservative management for thumb CMC arthritis. There are numerous surgical options to address thumb CMC arthritis with no clear advantage of one technique over the other. Methods: In this paper, we present our patient selection criteria and technique of hemi-trapeziectomy with interpositional arthroplasty for patients with thumb CMC arthritis. Conclusions: Hemi-trapeziectomy is ideal for patients with Eaton stage II/III thumb CMC arthritis in whom the STT joint is spared.

Effectiveness of Arthroscopic Debridement, Trapeziectomy, and Joint Replacement for Trapeziometacarpal Joint Osteoarthritis: A Meta-Analysis of Pre and Postoperative Pain Scores.

Trapeziometacarpal joint osteoarthritis (TMJO) affects up to 33% of postmenopausal women, leading to pain, reduced mobility, and grip strength, with initial treatments focusing on non-surgical options like injections, orthoses, and exercises before considering surgery. A major challenge in managing TMJO involves selecting the optimal surgical strategy that is customized to individual clinical conditions. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of three common surgical interventions for TMJO in relieving pain, including arthroscopic debridement (AD), trapeziectomy (TRAP), and joint replacement (JR).PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and MEDLINE databases were queried according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for studies that presented pain outcomes following intervention for TMJO. Pain scores were reported preoperatively and postoperatively using the visual analog scale (VAS). Inclusion criteria included studies published in Q1 and Q2 journals and those with a follow-up of > six months.The final selection comprised 18 studies with 763 patients treated with AD (n = 102, 13%), TRAP (n = 428, 56%), and JR (n = 233, 31%) between 2010 and 2023, with a mean follow-up period of 38 ± 28 months. The studies included a total of 24 groups, five of which received AD, 13 of which received TRAP, and six of which received JR. The mean preoperative VAS was 6.7 ± 1.7, and the mean postoperative VAS was 1.7 ± 1.3 for all groups (P < 0.001). The meta-analysis demonstrated a mean preoperative pain score of 5.8 (95% CI, 4.1-7.5) for AD, 6.6 (95% CI, 5.7-7.5) for TRAP, and 7.8 (95% CI, 7.0-8.7) for JR. Postoperatively, there was a mean pain score of 2.2 (95% CI, 0.1-4.2) for AD, 1.4 (95% CI, 1.1-1.7) for TRAP, and 0.9 (95% CI, 0.6-1.2) for JR.This study showed that, if appropriately indicated, joint preservation with AD may be as effective as TRAP and JR for reducing pain associated with TMJO in the short term. However, the rate of conversion or revision should be assessed in future studies.

Predicting Contralateral Surgery for Trapeziometacarpal Arthrosis Within 5 Years

Symptomatic trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint arthritis is a common cause of hand pain. It is unknown how many patients ultimately elect to have bilateral surgery for TMC arthritis. In this study, we assessed the frequency and predictive factors for contralateral TMC surgery in patients who underwent prior TMC surgery. We identified 712 patients who underwent primary surgery for TMC arthritis with a follow-up period of 5 years. We collected demographic, surgical, and follow-up data. Prediction models for contralateral surgery using a training and testing data set were created with multivariable logistic regression and random forest classifier algorithms. At the time of initial surgery, 230 patients had bilateral thumb pain (32%), but only 153 patients ultimately had an operation for TMC arthritis on the contralateral side within 5 years (21% of 712 total patients and 67% of 230 patients with bilateral pain). Common predictive factors between both models for contralateral surgery were younger age (odds ratio [OR]= 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93-0.98), bilateral thumb pain (OR= 3.76; 95% CI, 2.52-5.65), and anxiety disorders (OR= 1.84; 95% CI, 1.11-3.03). In our study, we found that the rate of contralateral surgery was 21% in patients who underwent prior TMC surgery. Predictive factors for future contralateral surgery included younger age, bilateral thumb pain, and anxiety disorder at the time of initial surgery. Prognostic II.

Demographic Characteristics and Clinical Factors of the Patients Suffering from Osteoarthritis of Hand – A Study Done in A Tertiary Specialized Hospital in Bangladesh

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common forms of arthritis. Hand OA is a heterogeneous, age and gender-dependent disorder, occurring more frequently in postmenopausal women over 50 years of age. Objective: This study aims to identify demographic patterns and factors associated with osteoarthritis of the hand among patients attending a tertiary-level hospital in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in the Department of Orthopedics, Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, Bogura, Bangladesh, between January and December of 2021. A total of 90 patients with OA of hands were included in this study. All patients were selected conveniently and informed written consent of the patients was taken. Participant data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical analyses were done with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25.0. Quantitative variables were analyzed by mean and standard deviation while qualitative variables were summarized by percentage. Results: In this study, the age distribution of the patients ranges from e”40 years to d”75 years irrespective of sex. The mean age of the patients of both sexes was 56.6±8.72 years. Among those 90 patients, 35 persons (38.9%) were male and 55 (61.1%) were female. Most of the patients are housewives 38 (42.22%). Most of the women (87.27%) are menopausal among the total 55 female patients. Only 13 (14.45%) persons had a previous history of a hand injury, and 20 (22.22%) persons had a habit of smoking or previously smokers. Most of the subjects 78 (86.67%) were right-hand dominant and a maximum of 67 (74.45%) persons enrolled in this study showed priority affected CMC1 OA to the dominant hand. Most of them (75.55%) took medications for treatment for arthritis. Conclusion: Our study revealed that osteoarthritis of the hands is predominant in females and affects mostly the right hand. Further high-quality studies examining the risk factors for hand osteoarthritis are needed to replicate these findings and determine modifiable factors in symptomatic patients. Mugda Med Coll J. 2023; 6(2): 77-82

A marker-based approach to determine the centers of rotation of finger joints

Background and ObjectiveThe methods proposed in literature to estimate the position of hand joints Centers of Rotation (CoRs) typically require computationally non-trivial optimization routines and exploit a high number of markers to calculate CoRs positions from surface marker trajectories. Moreover, most of the existing works evaluated the accuracy only in simulation. This work proposes a new procedure, based on the Pratt circle fit, to estimate joints CoRs position in 2D through marker-based acquisitions. MethodsThe advantage of the Pratt circle fit lies in its simplicity and computational speed, and in the possibility of exploiting a reduced markerset for calculating CoRs. By applying simplifying assumptions regarding the movement of the fingers (i.e., planar and decoupled flexion-extension movements of each joint occurring in the same flexion plane for all the joints of the finger), it is possible to determine the position of the CoR of each joint in 2D. For this reason, the estimation of the Carpo-MetaCarpal joint of the thumb was not included in this work, as it exhibits a more complex movement associated to the combination of a flexion-extension and adduction-abduction degree of freedom. The errors in estimating CoRs were evaluated by conducting experimental acquisitions on an anthropomorphic robotic hand and comparing the position of the estimated CoR with the real position of the CoR. The repeatability of the method and its capability to estimate anatomically plausible CoRs were evaluated through experimental acquisitions conducted on five healthy volunteers. ResultsErrors in estimating finger joints CoRs were in the order of 0.70 mm and 0.18 mm respectively along the finger longitudinal direction (i.e., x coordinate) and thickness (i.e., y coordinate). Standard Deviations of CoRs positions were comparable to the ones obtained in literature (i.e., below 2 mm and 1 mm respectively for the x and y coordinates), thus demonstrating the repeatability of the method. The Anatomical Plausibility Rate of the proposed approach was between 80% and 100%. ConclusionsThe performance of the Pratt-based CoRs estimation procedure proposed in this work was comparable to other existing methods, with the advantage of exploiting a simple fitting algorithm and a reduced markerset with respect to the state-of-the-art techniques.

Wrist &amp; Hand

The February 2024 Wrist &amp; Hand Roundup360 looks at: Occupational therapy for thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis?; Age and patient-reported benefits from operative management of intra-articular distal radius fractures: a meta-regression analysis; Long-term outcomes of nonsurgical treatment of thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis: a cohort study; Semi-occlusive dressing versus surgery in fingertip injuries: a randomized controlled trial; Re-fracture in partial union of the scaphoid waist?; The WALANT distal radius fracture: a systematic review; Endoscopic carpal tunnel release with or without hand therapy?; Ten-year trends in the level of evidence in hand surgery.

Automated analysis of trapeziometacarpal joint kinematics using four-dimensional computed tomography.

The aim of this study was to develop an automated approach model to define in vivo kinematics of the trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint using four-dimensional computed tomography. A total of 15 healthy volunteers were included and their TMC joint kinematics were studied during a retropulsion-opposition-retropulsion movement. We used cardan angles estimated from transformation matrices using a ZYX-decomposition and analysed the motion of the thumb metacarpal relative to the trapezium, the thumb metacarpal relative to the index metacarpal, and the trapezium relative to the index metacarpal. The study also included an analysis of the joint hysteresis effect and a joint proximity model that estimated the joint contact area during a retropulsion-opposition-retropulsion movement. The automated approach significantly decreased the time needed to analyse each case and makes this model applicable for further research on TMC kinematics.