Carpal dislocations

SummaryCarpal dislocations represent a group of injuries for which an accurate diagnosis, prompt treatment and attention to detail are important to a successful outcome. It is possible to gain a functioning wrist and return patients to heavy manual work despite a severe injury. There is some evidence that the purely ligamentous injuries do less well than those combined with bony injuries perhaps due to the more frequent open reduction and anatomical restoration achieved in the latter. Salvage procedures include partial or total arthrodesis or proximal row carpectomy. Individual carpal bone excision appears to produce a poorer functional outcome.