Clinical outcome and survival rate of the Herbert ulnar head prosthesis for reconstruction of the distal radioulnar joint depending on co-morbidity and different indications

• Published in: Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery 2023-05, Vol.143 (5), p.2789-2795
• Main Authors: Mehling, I. M., Pronk, R. F., van Schoonhoven, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arthroplasty, Replacement - methods; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Handsurgery; Humans; Joint Prosthesis; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Morbidity; Orthopedics; Pain - surgery; Patient satisfaction; Prostheses; Range of motion; Range of Motion, Articular; Survival Rate; Treatment Outcome; Ulna - surgery; Wrist - surgery; Wrist Joint - surgery; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1434-3916; 0936-8051; 1434-3916
• DOI: 10.1007/s00402-022-04728-3

Introduction Ulnar head prostheses have been developed to restore the integrity of the DRUJ and relieve pain. This study aims to evaluate the long-term outcome of the clinical and radiographic results as well as the survival rate of the Herbert ulnar head prosthesis (UHP) depending on co-morbidity and different indications. Materials and methods The Herbert ulnar head prosthesis was implanted in 62 patients. In the majority of the patients, the indication was given due to pain during forearm rotation. This was on account of painful instability of the distal ulna following Bowers (59.7%) or Kapandji procedure (16.1%), Darrach procedure (8.1%) or painful post-traumatic (12.9%) or primary osteoarthritis (3.2%). Of the 62 patients, 34 were men and 28 women. The mean age at the time of operation was 49 years (range 18–84 years). A clinical and radiographic evaluation was performed including pain scale, range of motion, grip strength and the DASH and modified Mayo wrist scores. Results The average follow-up was 84.5 months (range 8–206 months), and statistically significant reduction of pain was observed ( p