Value of conventional wrist physical examination in detection of injury to triangular fibrocartilage complex / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate conventional wrist physical examination in detecting injury to the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC).Methods A retrospective study was conducted of the 118 patients (119 wrists) who had been admitted from January 2013 to October 2017 to Hand Surgery Department,Beijing Jishuitan Hospital for wrist arthroscopic surgery.All of them underwent wrist physical examination preoperatively for conventional index tests for TFCC injury like ulnar fovea sign,piano-key test,distal ulnar ballottement test and ulnocarpal stress test.They were 68 males and 50 females with a mean age of 32 years.The results of physical examination were compared with the arthroscopic findings to calculate the sensitivity,specificity,positive/negative predictive value (PPV/NPV) and +/-likelihood ratio (LR) of each index test.In addition,we combined the results of any 2 tests to increase the capability of detecting peripheral TFCC injury.Results The diagnostic values of each index test were achieved by comparison between the results of physical examination and the arthroscopic findings:(1) ulnar fovea sign:sensitivity =0.648,specificity =0.742;(2) piano key test:sensitivity =0.817,specificity =0.735;(3) distal ulnar ballottement test:sensitivity =0.927,specificity =0.647;(4) ulnocarpal stress test:sensitivity =0.825,specificity =0.500.The combination of any 2 tests produced 3 new index tests,of which the most valuable combination was ulnar fovea sign & distal ulna ballottement test,with a sensitivity of 0.598,a specificity of 0.941,a PPV of 0.961and a + LR of 10.14,Conclusions The signs elicited in physical examination and special tests can be helpful in the diagnosis of TFCC injuries.However,as the value of any single test is not enough,we should clinically combine the results of ulna fovea sign and distal ulna ballottement test to increase the capability of detecting peripheral TFCC injury.