four-corner fusion of the wrist (avascular necrosis of the scaphoid)

[lerrymoe]

Hello, I have developed somehow an avascular necrosis of the scaphoid. The condition happens when the the scaphoid is broken and one of the parts is not supplied with blood and dies. The only good news is that it was not on my right hand, since I'm right handed. The doc wants now to do a partial fusion of the wrist, with excision of the scaphoid and fusing the other 4 bones on the top of the wrist to provide stability. The excision of the scaphoid is said to be the only solution with partial fution of the wrist since I have alredy developed arthritis on the concerned wrist.  

My current situation is the following: almost no extention or flexion on the wrist; all other movements intact. If I keep the hand continuously in a splint i'll have no pain, but if i take it out i'll have pain in a very short time, doing even minor tasks.

Since I am quite young (29yrs) I am wondering what should I do. I dont want to live in pain, but I also know that this surgery will probably not be the end of this story. I know about this since the beginning of the year, and since then I've also done almost no sports. Before that I did sports almost every day.

My question is: has anyone here experience with partial fusion of the wrist? (four-corner fusion). Would you recommend it? What was the outcome?

Thanks a lot in advance,

Lerry  

[lerrymoe]

hello all, its now more than 2 years i have done the surgery... i had a quite normal life until about 1 month ago when i started having some wrist pain again... i am waiting to see if it goes away alone, otherwise i'll have to check with the doc... its not pain, but a very uncomfortable feeling that my hand is very tired... i suppose this could be the beginning of an athrosis... cheers

[eric_dv]

I am a 21 year old athlete who broke my scaphoid 5 years ago, although I did not find out until this october when i got my surgery (bone graft and 3 pins). After 19 long weeks in a cast, I finally got my pins out today although the bones are only slightly healed. I do have some arthritis in the joint. Im wondering how long it will take to get back to lifting and playing sports again, and if lifting is even a good idea? Iv always been able to tolerate the pain from this, and even if my wrist went back to how it was before surgery i would be happy.  comments from anyone who has had this problem would be appreciated.

[alisa121]

HI Lerry, I too have suffered for about 10 years with severe wrists pain, i did the splint thing too.  Now im to the point where my left wrist has almost fused itself, i cant bend my wrist anymore which is difficult as you know. My doc gave me the same options as you, he also mentioned wrists replacement, which is fairly new, but u may want to inquire about it. i have still yet to decide what to do. i wish i had a diagnosis...did you get one, they mentioned kiebocks disease but my ortho doc and hand surgeon disagree on it.

[Makintops]

Great post. I had the same procedure 2 months ago. I get my cast off today. How are you doing now? How long did it take to get back to normal? Pain gone?

[Makintops]

I am in week 5 with the same procedure. Tell her first 2 weeks were the worst. I have a high pain tolerance but it was unbearable! Week 3 was a little better with 4 &5 improving a bunch. The key is to keep that thing elevated at all times and after swelling goes down gentle finger exercise helps tremendously. My fear is that I would somehow "hurt" the surgery but my doctor told me not to worry about that. Light pressure back and forth on fingers will help with recovery down the road. Good luck to her.

[Makintops]

I have very good doctors here where I live but they were so pessimistic I started researching hard.  I went to the hospital for special surgery in New York to have Dr. Weiland do mine. He is an incredible surgeon.  I think the reason you see so many different results on this blog is the quality of the doctor! Weiland is the choice of professional athletes  that have wrist issues and they usually find the best. I am 2 months removed from my surgery and very optimistic. I hope to be golfing in 2 months pain free!