Abstract
Wrist pain is an important cause of upper-limb disability in daily human activities. There are many causes of wrist pain and this subject has received considerable attention in the orthopaedic and hand surgery literature during the past decade. Clinical examinations and radiographs usually clarify the cause when the problem is avascular necrosis of a carpal bone, tumor, arthritis, disruption of the intercarpal ligament or even chronic infection. However, theare occasional cases which remain diagnostic enigmas in that there is chronic wrist pain without there being any cause or radiographic findings.
We treated 174 patients who had been suffering from wrist pain. In 50, specific physical examination and standard radiography failed to reveal a source of pathology, and they were followed for symptoms of chronic wrist pain. Further diagnostic studies including arthrography and RI scintigraphy revealed local pathology. It is only after an accurate diagnosis is established that a rational therapeutic procedure can be determined.
