Soft-tissue injuries of the wrist

The wide spectrum of athletic activities places demands of different magnitudes, orientations, and degrees of repetition on the wrists of athletes. These demands can result in injuries to the soft tissues of the wrist, which may make optimal athletic performance difficult if not impossible. With the advent of increased awareness of injuries particular to a sport and advances in diagnostic acumen, both technologic and clinical, these once enigmatic pathologic entities can be approached with a treatment plan that often can return the athlete to competition quickly. A number of these injuries and their pathomechanics, diagnosis, and treatment options have been described in this article. Although adequate treatment of the subject of athletic soft-tissue injuries to the wrist requires a more lengthy discussion than is appropriate here, the material presented on dorsal pain disorders, carpal instability, and the triangular fibrocartilage complex should serve as a starting point for increasing cognizance and understanding of the injured wrist in the athlete.