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Updated: May 5, 2026

Preliminary Study on Acupuncture Combined with Grain-sized Moxibustion for Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis with Finger Joint Pain
Published on: May 16, 2025
Modified Sauvé-Kapandji procedure for rheumatoid wrists: a long-term study with a minimum follow-up of 5 years
Akira Kawabata1, Takeshi Egi, Hideki Tsuboi
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Higashi-Sumiyoshi Morimoto Hospital , Higashi sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka , Japan.
Objectives:
We performed a modified Sauvé-Kapandji procedure for treating disorders of distal radioulnar joint in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This procedure involves resecting the distal part of the ulna, rotating the resected portion by 90° and fixating it with the distal part of the radius for shelf plasty. The purpose of this study was to examine the clinical and radiographic outcomes of this procedure with more than 5 years' follow-up.
Methods:
We studied 32 wrists of 27 RA patients with the mean follow-up of 93.1 months after operation. Pain, grip strength and range of motion of the wrist were examined clinically, while two indices for evaluation of ulnar and palmar translation of the carpus, carpal translation index and palmar carpal subluxation ratio were calculated on radiographs.
Results:
The wrist pain reduced in all cases. Range of motion increased significantly regarding pronation and supination but decreased significantly regarding flexion. Change in grip power was not significant. No significant differences were recognized between radiographic indices, suggesting carpal alignment was maintained well throughout the follow-up period.
Conclusions:
We think this procedure could be applied for distal radioulnar joint disorders in RA patients with promising clinical as well as radiographic outcomes over a long period.
