Arthroscopic lunate fossa resection arthroplasty for Kienböck's disease

The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of arthroscopic lunate fossa resection arthroplasty for patients with Kienböck's disease, previously managed without operation, and a non-functional lunate fossa. For adult patients with relapse or exacerbation of pain from Kienböck's disease 2 years after the onset of symptoms, arthroscopic removal of lunate fossa cartilage was performed to reach bleeding bone, if the cartilage in the lunate fossa was non-functional and the scaphoid fossa was intact. Sixteen patients (mean age 35 years; range 27-56) were included. At a mean follow-up of 39 months (range 24-64), the preoperative mean visual analogue pain scale and QuickDASH score decreased from 7 (SD 2.2) and 50 (SD 16) to 1.4 (SD 1.6) and 13 (SD 9.6), respectively. A minor deterioration in mean radioscaphoid angle and carpal height ratio occurred. Arthroscopic lunate fossa resection arthroplasty is a viable option for selected patients with Kienböck's disease.Level of evidence: IV.