The symptomatic carpal boss. Is simple excision enough?

We reviewed 48 patients with symptomatic carpal boss seen during the 10 year period 1985-1994. Thirty-one patients had undergone either local excision of the boss or arthrodesis of the affected carpometacarpal joint. The mean follow-up was 3 years and nine cases have been revised. Twenty-four patients remained symptomatic and considered that surgery had failed to relieve their symptoms. These findings are in sharp contrast to previous reports that suggest simple excision of the carpal boss gives uniformly good results.