Clinical diagnosis of triquetrolunate ligament injuries

The clinical diagnosis of peritriquetral injuries is difficult. We describe our diagnostic technique based on specific questions and three clinical tests. The accuracy of our diagnostic technique was compared prospectively with the definitive diagnosis made at arthroscopy. Preoperatively, 19 patients were diagnosed as having triquetrolunate dissociation. This was confirmed at arthroscopy in 17. Another five patients not diagnosed preoperatively were also diagnosed at arthroscopy as having mainly triquetrolunate dissociation. The sensitivity of our diagnostic protocol was 0.77 and the positive predictive value was 0.89.