Carpal Instability

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Top Contributors - Kenneth de Becker, Kim Jackson, Hannah Willocx, Rucha Gadgil, Admin, Kai A. Sigel and WikiSysop  

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Definition/Description  

Carpal instability is defined as an injury where there is a loss of normal alignment of the carpal bones and/ or the radioulnar joint. The loss creates a disturbance of the normal balance of the carpal- and radioulnar joints which results in changes to the range of motion. If undiagnosed, carpal instability can lead to progressive limitation of movement, and later to degenerative intercarpal and radiocarpal arthritis, chronic pain and disability.. [6,14] [LoE: 5, 5]

A traumatic event is often at the origin of carpal injury: the trauma causes ligamentous injuries that lead to misalignments of the joint surfaces, or badly healed fractures with consequent articular incongruence. Chronic ligament weakening can also lead to carpal instability in certain cases. [1,2,7] [LoE: 2A, 5, 5]

Carpal instability can be classified in different ways depending on the nature of the instability, its location and its origin. Ligament lesions are frequent in a young population. Resulting from high-energy injuries they principally include perilunate dislocation and scapholunate dissociation (resulting from a fall on an outstretched hand, with wrist in hyperextension and forearm pronated). (see: Scapholunate Dissocation). On the other hand, degenerative lesions are more common in elderly patients. These lesions are related to pathologies such as chondrocalcinosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatisms. [21] [LoE: 2A]
The main problem with carpal ligament lesions and fractures is the high potential for arthritis. [21] [LoE: 2A]

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