The role of midcarpal arthroscopy in the diagnosis of disorders of the wrist.

The findings of midcarpal versus radiocarpal arthroscopic examinations were compared in the diagnosis of a variety of wrist pathology in 89 patients. During 15 months 89 midcarpal arthroscopic examinations were performed in conjunction with radiocarpal arthroscopic examinations. Eighty-one wrists underwent arthroscopy for acute or chronic intracarpal instability. Eight wrists underwent arthroscopy for arthroscopy-assisted intra-articular distal radius fracture reduction. In the acute wrist instability group midcarpal arthroscopy added to the radiocarpal diagnosis in 21 of 26 (82%) of the wrists. In the chronic wrist instability group midcarpal arthroscopy added to the radiocarpal diagnosis in 46 of 55 (84%) of the wrists. In the distal radius group 5 of 8 wrists had additional pathology on the midcarpal arthroscopy examination, leading to additional surgical intervention. These results demonstrate that midcarpal arthroscopy added statistically significant information to the radiocarpal examination compared with wrist arthroscopy performed without a midcarpal examination.