Scaphoid anatomy: evaluation with complex motion tomography.

Complex motion tomography was used to study the normal orientation of the axes of the proximal and distal scaphoid poles as a basis for comparison with displaced or malunited scaphoid fractures. Biplanar tomograms of 10 normal wrists were evaluated by seven physicians with the use of two standardized measurement techniques. The reference planes used for the first technique were the volar cortical surface of the proximal scaphoid and the dorsal cortical surface of the distal scaphoid. The apparent angulation between the reference planes with this technique averaged 32 degrees +/- 5 degrees on the sagittal view and 40 degrees +/- 3 degrees on the coronal view. The second technique used the orientation of the proximal articular surface relative to the distal articular surface of the scaphoid. The angulation between the axes averaged 24 degrees +/- 5 degrees in the sagittal plane and 40 degrees +/- 4 degrees in the coronal plane.