Surgical technique for the treatment of radial wrist pain.

Chronic radial wrist pain with no radiographic evidence of scapholunate instability or other wrist disease can be difficult to diagnose and treat. Our purpose was to evaluate the results of an operation to treat chronic radial or periscaphoid wrist pain that has failed to respond to conservative treatment. We examined the scapholunate ligament and performed a dorsal capsulodesis. One hundred-and-two patients were reviewed retrospectively. Casenotes were available for 88 patients. Function, pain, range of movement (ROM), and grip and pinch strengths were evaluated. Twenty (23%) of the patients were found to have a scapholunate ligament tear of 0-30%, 55 (61%) had a tear of 30%-60%, and 14 (16%) had a tear of 60%-100%. Mean postoperative grip strength was 29.5 kg (80% of the normal side). Postoperative range of movement was significantly limited in flexion compared with the normal side. All patients returned to their previous employment. Seventy (80%) of the patients described improvement in pain and function. Twenty-two (25%) required further operation on the same wrist. This procedure may be indicated in patients with chronic radial wrist pain and no overt instability that is resistant to conservative treatment. It has minimal morbidity and gives good results.

Range of movement in the wrist as a diagnostic tool in radial-sided wrist pain.

Kienböck disease is diagnosed by imaging studies, and is often difficult to diagnose in its early stages. Our clinical impression is that wrist movement is more limited in Kienböck disease than when radial-sided wrist pain is caused by other conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the use of wrist movement in differentiating between early Kienböck disease and radial-sided sprained wrist. We retrospectively reviewed 62 cases of Kienböck disease and 49 patients with radial-sided wrist sprain. Wrist movement at presentation was recorded. The two groups differed significantly in flexion and extension (p<0.001). The ability of movement of the affected wrist relative to the normal side to distinguish between the groups was excellent (AUC = 0.96, 0.97, respectively). The ability of wrist movement measurements to differentiate between early Kienböck disease and radial-sided wrist sprain emphasises that wrist movement should be measured prior to invasive or expensive testing.

Use of topical sRAGE in diabetic wounds increases neovascularization and granulation tissue formation.

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) accumulate in diabetic wounds as a result of the glycosylation of various proteins. Interaction of AGEs with the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) results in an exaggerated inflammatory response and compromised collagen production. These changes lead to impaired wound healing. A soluble form of RAGE (sRAGE) has been shown to bind AGEs and thereby blunt their pathogenetic effects. Using genetically diabetic C57BLks-db/db mice, the authors applied sRAGE topically to standardized full-thickness wounds to improve diabetic wound healing. They measured various parameters of wound healing such as neovascularization, reepithelialization, collagen formation, and granulation tissue area. Their results showed a statistically significant increase in granulation tissue area and microvascular density in the sRAGE group compared with untreated wounds. There was a trend toward a smaller epithelial gap in the sRAGE-treated group that did not reach statistical significance. The authors conclude that sRAGE may be a powerful treatment of accelerating diabetic wound healing.