Arthroscopic treatment of stage 3 scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC)

Scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC) is a form of degenerative arthritis of the wrist which is commonly a sequela of scapholunate instability. SLAC follows a typical pattern which begins with arthritis of the radial styloid (stage 1). Stage 2 is marked by the involvement of the entire scaphoid fossa and the scaphoid while arthritic changes involve the midcarpal joint in stage 3. Stage 2 SLAC is typically managed with proximal row carpectomy (PRC), which preserves some degree of wrist flexion-extension arc and reduces pain. However, major drawbacks of this procedure are as follows: incongruence between lunate fossa and capitate, subsequent arthritic changes, and reduced grip strength originating from reduced carpal height. This video shows a recently described salvage procedure, namely arthroscopic interposition tendon arthroplasty (AITA), which attempts to preserve wrist motion and carpal height simultaneously restoring radiocarpal joint space and reducing pain, by interpositioning tendon graft in the radiocarpal joint.

Scaphotrapeziotrapezoid (STT) joint osteoarthritis is less known than other types of wrist arthritis.
This disease accounts for only 13% of all wrist arthritis sites. Isolated lesions of this joint are rare and their therapeutic management is complex.
The only treatment proposed used to be STT arthrodesis, a technically difficult procedure which caused numerous complications.
Pseudoarthrosis is common, and STT arthrodesis has been incriminated in the occurrence of radioscaphoid osteoarthritis. Techniques of distal resection combined with interposition of biological tissues such as tendons (flexor carpi radialis) was described in the 1990s. In this video, we present arthroscopic interposition of pyrocarbon implant, a safe and convenient technique for patients, with long-lasting favorable results.

Instability of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) results from injury or laxity of the ligaments responsible for stabilizing the joint. Of note, the triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) plays a crucial role in maintaining DRUJ stability. Sometimes, it may be impossible to repair the TFCC due to degenerative changes in the TFCC. In such cases, DRUJ reconstruction is possible provided that there are no arthritic changes in the DRUJ with the use of tendon graft. The aim of this procedure is to reconstruct the ligament and restore function, thus providing multidirectional stability. This procedure uses a tendon graft, preferably the Palmaris Longus (PL), which is woven through trans-osseous tunnels in the distal radius, converging at the fovea through a distal ulnar trans-osseous tunnel.

Bone ganglia of the lunatum are benign tumors which become painful when the ganglion wall collapses in the scapholunate joint. The usual localization of these ganglia is antero-lateral and their surgical treatment via an open technique is difficult. Arthroscopic bone grafting of lunate bone ganglion is a precise, effective, and very convenient technique for patients.

Some wrist traumas lead to a rare lesion, namely the radial disinsertion of the dorsal intercarpal ligament, from its dorsal insertion to the scaphoid. This causes the scaphoid to slide towards the anterior margin of the radius. Arthroscopic repair is accurate and safe.