[Partial arthrodesis and total fusion of the rheumatoid wrist]

The hand (wrist and fingers) is one of the regions most frequently affected by rheumatic arthritis (RA). Obviously, the functional handicap affects activities of daily living and imposes an additional psychological burden, because the nature of the alterations means that the clinical picture can be interpreted as RA from external appearances. Thus, treatment of the rheumatoid wrist is a prodigious challenge for hand surgeons. Radiolunate arthrodesis (RLA), as pioneered by Chamay and Della-Santa, has become an established surgical technique for stabilizing and relieving pain in wrists destroyed by RA. RLA has been described by Stanley as the "golden standard" for the treatment of rheumatoid wrists. For patients with a severe wrist deformity and pain, a complete wrist arthrodesis may be the only viable surgical option.