Distal Pole Resection of the Scaphoid for the Treatment of Scaphotrapeziotrapezoid Osteoarthritis

Background: Distal pole resection of the scaphoid is one of the surgical techniques applied for the treatment of painful scaphotrapeziotrapezoid osteoarthritis (STT-OA). Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated midterm outcomes in a consecutive series of patients who underwent distal pole resection of the scaphoid: 13 patients (15 wrists) with a mean follow-up of 4.1 years. We examined objective functional and patient-reported outcome measures. In addition, we assessed the degree of dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) and postoperative complications. Results: All patients scored within a normal range on objective functional and patient-reported outcome measures. We observed a mild postoperative DISI deformity with an average lunocapitate angle of 22° (range, 0°-44°), which did not correlate with pain scores. In the opposite wrists, with and without STT-OA, the average lunocapitate angle was 6° (range, 0°-20°). Conclusions: According to this study, midterm results for distal pole resection of the scaphoid are satisfactory.