Abstract
Triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) injury is considered one of the main causes of ulnar sided wrist pain. However, we can sometimes recognize TFCC injury without pain, especially when complicated with distal radius fracture. We studied the relationship between the injury patterns of TFCC and wrist pain. Forty-eight wrists of 47 patients were divided into two groups. Group 1: 28 wrists of TFCC injury without ulnar abutment but complaining of ulnar wrist pain, and recovered with surgical procedure. Group 2: 18 wrists of TFCC injury complicated with distal radius fracture, and complaining of no ulnar wrist pain during treatment. TFCC injury was classified by Palmer's classification and our original classification.
Injury patterns in each group were as follows: 1A: 15, 1B: 9, 1C: 3, horizontal tear: 4, dorsal tear: 5, fovea tear: 4 and combined tear: 11 in group 1, and 1A: 10, 1B: 3, combined tear: 1 and massive tear: 6 in group 2. These results suggest that 1) the relation between 1A tear and ulnar wrist pain cannot be explained by its injury pattern, 2) injury around the TFCC is predictable for ulnar wrist pain, and 3) massive tear is not the cause of ulnar wrist pain.
