Clinical examination of the wrist.

In summary, evaluation of the painful wrist is based upon a thorough knowledge of wrist anatomy. The key is to localize and identify the painful structures through systematic palpation of the wrist's bony and soft-tissue anatomy and to perform provocative tests to reproduce the patient's symptoms and identify instability. It is important to keep in mind that clinical findings must be interpreted with caution. North and Meyer correlated clinical and arthroscopic findings and concluded that it is possible to identify the region of wrist injury based on a clinical examination, but not the specific ligament. Imaging and other diagnostic studies are needed to complete the evaluation of the wrist.