The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York has studies underway testing if a new modular partial wrist implant will facilitate better movement and last longer than traditional implants for patients who suffer from painful wrist arthritis.
Here are five takeaways:
1. Scott Wolfe, MD, and his colleagues in collaboration with Extremity Medical, an orthopedic device company, designed the modular partial wrist placement as a better match for a normal wrist. It is designed to preserve the wrist motion needed for various activities.
2. Seven surgeons from Canada, Europe and Australia learned how to use the device at the September meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in Seattle.
3. The surgeons will monitor patients and record results in an international wrist replacement registry to analyze how they fare with the new prosthesis.
4. The device, known as the KinematX midcarpal modular wrist hemiarthroplasty, is licensed to New Jersey-based Extremity Medical.
5. Dr. Wolfe and his colleagues believe the implant will be more durable than traditional wrist implants as well as allow patents to resume sports and other activities sooner after surgery.
"Traditional wrist surgeries often constrain the wrist to move in one plane at a time. Because of this, patients need to learn new ways to move their forearm and arm to compensate for the change," said Dr. Wolfe. "In so doing, they may further stress other joints; conversely, those with impaired neighboring joints may not be able to return to some activities, like playing tennis or golf."