Short term review of the De La Caffiniere trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty.

We present a short term review of twenty-one De La Caffinière trapezio-metacarpal prostheses inserted into twenty patients with an average review time of fifteen months. Only one case was of rheumatoid arthritis and the main indication for operation was pain. From a functional and symptomatic point of view the results are similar to other series with surgery for trapezio-metacarpal arthritis but due to cup loosening 24% have needed revision, 24% have loose cups and a further 19% have lucent cement lines around the cup. This review draws attention to the worrying frequency of loosening with this prosthesis.