Radiologic Evolution after Scapholunate Dorsal Capsulodesis for Chronic Tears

Background  Many debates are still ongoing for the management of chronic scapholunate (SL) injuries. We have proposed an arthroscopic technique of dorsal capsulodesis with good clinical results. We now propose a radiological follow-up. Purpose  To determine if arthroscopic dorsal capsulodesis can improve the radiographic SL angle and maintain this correction over time. Methods  From January 2020 to January 2021, we included every patient with an SL instability and sorted them according to the European Wrist Arthroscopy Society (EWAS) classification. All patients had bilateral X-rays with a measurement of the radiolunate (RL) and SL angles for both the pathologic and healthy side. We also included patients with lunotriquetral or triangular fibrocartilage complex lesions. The exclusion criteria were the presence of arthritis and persistent intraoperative SL instability after capsulodesis. An arthroscopic dorsal capsulodesis was performed in all patients as originally described by Mathoulin. The RL and SL angles were then again measured on the immediate postoperative X-ray, and then again at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. The statistical analysis was done using a paired Student's t -test with 145 degrees of freedom and α = 0.05. Results  We included a total of 146 patients with a 1-year follow-up. Both the RL angle and the SL angles approach the healthy side at 12 months postoperatively. The RL angle has increased from -7.23 degrees to 4.37 degrees; the difference is still statistically significative, but it is almost equal to the healthy side (5.16 degrees). The SL angle has lowered from 74.55 to 54.95; the difference is still statistically and radiologically significative (6.788 degrees) but has been lowered by 74.3%. Conclusion  This study shows that this technique can normalize the dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) over time without the need for any pinning or invasive ligament reconstructive surgery. Level of Evidence  Level IV, cohort study. Clinical Relevance  Dorsal capsulodesis should be considered in all reducible SL injuries, even when DISI is present.