Home » Orthopedic Care » Wrist Replacement
Overview
Total wrist Replacement surgeries are recommended to people suffering from painful arthritis and are not responding to other medical procedures. This surgery is not as common as the knee or hip surgery. During a wrist replacement surgery the infected or painful parts of the wrist joint are replaced by artificial components. The main reasons of total wrist replacement are pain relief and ensuring the functioning of wrist and hand.
Wrist Structure
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Causes
Although wrist replacement is not a very common surgery, it can be recommended in the following cases:
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Osteoarthritis:
With the growing age the articular cartilage experiences a wear and tear. Due to the wearing out of cartilage, the movement of the wrist becomes painful. -
Rheumatoid arthritis:
This is a chronic inflammatory disease which results in the swelling of bones. This disease results in pain and stiffness of the joint.
Osteoarthritis as well as rheumatoid arthritis affects the strength of hand and fingers and makes gripping and pinching difficult. -
Severe fractures:
In rare cases of severe fracture of the wrist joint, a total wrist replacement is recommended.
Artificial Wrist Joint
Preparations for the Surgery
As in case of any other surgery, this surgery too requires a good physical health that helps the patient to recover soon. One must get a total physical examination done by a general physician. In case the patient is on the medication for chronic diseases, like heart disease, the medications may be needed to stop. Blood thinners are also advised to be stopped. Proper arrangements should be made at home that helps the patient with daily tasks for a few weeks of surgery.The Surgery
The total wrist replacement surgery is carried out to provide relief from pain in the wrist joint. During the surgery the effected part or parts are replaced by artificial components. There are cases in which fusing the bones of the wrist may provide pain relief and improve gripping. But, fusing the bones does not allow the bending of the wrist. In such cases wrist replacement is a better option.
Before the surgery a general anesthesia is given to the patient. A wrist replacement is generally combined with other processes to correct the disorders of small joints of finger and thumb.
An incision or cut is made at the back of the wrist. The damaged end of the arm bone is removed. In many cases the first row of carpal is also removed. First component of the implant is inserted into the radius bone of the forearm. It is held in place by bone cement made up of polymethylmethacrylate.
The carpal component is then inserted into the hand bone or is screwed with the remaining row of carpal bone. This component is inserted into the carpal bone using one long and one or two shorter metallic stems. Bone cement is used if required to hold the components in place.
An appropriate liner is attached between the metal components of the implants.