If the pain becomes unmanageable, you may need to consider surgery. There is no single surgery for arthritis of the wrist. The wrist is complex, and many different injuries can lead to arthritis. As a result, there are many possible surgical procedures for treating a painful wrist joint. Which one is right for you depends on your underlying problem, how much of the wrist joint is involved, and how you need to use your wrist.
In some cases, people with arthritis of the wrist have already had wrist surgery after an earlier injury. This past surgery may have repaired broken bones or stitched together torn ligaments. The surgery at least may have helped delay osteoarthritis in the wrist. A previous surgery can be a factor in deciding which procedure is best for you.
If the arthritis involves only one or two of the small carpal bones of the wrist, you may undergo a special procedure that focuses on only those bones. If you have advanced osteoarthritis that affects most of the wrist, your doctor will probably suggest a wrist fusion or an artificial wrist joint.
When the wrist joint becomes so painful that it is difficult to grip or move the wrist, your doctor may recommend fusing the wrist joint. A wrist fusion is sometimes called an arthrodesis of the wrist. The goal of a wrist fusion is to get the radius bone in the forearm to grow together, or fuse, into one long bone with the carpal bones of the wrist and the metacarpals of the hand. A wrist fusion is a challenging operation. A fusion of most other joints involves only two or three bones. Wrist fusion involves getting 12 or 13 bones to grow together. But wrist fusion is usually successful in relieving wrist pain.
Related Document: Collective Health's Guide to Wrist Fusion
A wrist fusion gets rid of pain in the wrist and restores strength, but it isn't a great choice for someone who needs to move the wrist more freely. Patients who have arthritis in both wrists don't usually get two wrist fusions. That would make it very difficult to do everyday activities such as turning door knobs and taking care of basic hygiene.
Patients who have wrist arthritis due to systemic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are much more likely to have arthritis in both wrists. These patients probably don't need wrist strength as much as good range of motion. They would probably benefit from at least one wrist joint replacement. In some cases, surgeons fuse one wrist for strength and replace the other wrist with an artificial joint for motion.
Related Document: Collective Health's Guide to Artificial Joint Replacement of the Wrist
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