Bone Grafts Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bone Grafts, including details on spine fusion, surgery, procedure, risks.

A vascularized technique for bone-tissue-bone repair in scapholunate dissociation.

Harvey EJ, Sen M, Martineau P

Division of Orthopedic Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada. edward.harvey@much.mcgill.ca

Several surgical options have been used for the repair of scapholunate instability over the last 50 years. The many options have included neglect, reduction with percutaneous pinning, primary repair, partial fusions, tendon weaves, and others. Recent advancements in scapholunate repair and anatomy have been aimed at a more physiological repair. Composite replacement of the entire scapholunate interval similar to other tendon repairs seen in orthopedic surgery has become popular. Currently, more common hand-based grafts are bone-retinaculum-bone, third or second metacarpal-carpal bone or hamate-capitate grafts. There still exist some failures in the outcome after any of these procedures. This technique demonstrates the use of a vascularized autograft replacement on a pedicled graft. This procedure is the natural extension of the third or second metacarpal-carpal bone autograft, previously reported in the literature. The use of this proven graft, with a pedicle based on the intermetacarpal artery, may avoid some of the late complications seen with other autografts.

Published 15 September 2006 in Tech Hand Up Extrem Surg, 10(3): 166-72.
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