Distal ulnar translocation in the treatment of giant-cell tumors of the distal end of the radius.

Two patients with a giant-cell tumor of the distal end of the radius were treated by en bloc resection of the distal part of the radius and by replacement of the resected segment with the translocated distal portion of the ipsilateral ulna. The blood supply to the ulna without detaching its soft-tissue attachments. The distal articular surface of the ulna was resected and the ulna was fused to the lunate and the scaphoid. The ulnar segment was internally fixed to the proximal segment of the radius and to the carpus with an intramedullary Steinmann pin. Both patients obtained a useful, pain-free extremity with more than 85 per cent of forearm rotation and 10 to 15 degrees of flexion-extension at the wrist.