CORRECTION OF POSTTRAUMATIC DISORDERS OF THE DISTAL RADIOULNAR JOINT WITH THE SAUVE-KAPANDJI PROCEDURE

The Sauve-Kapandji procedure was performed on 21 patients with posttra umatic lesions between May of 1985 and May of 1991; average clinical a nd radiological follow-up was 3.4 years. Causal mechanisms were as fol lows: 12 cases were sequelae of fractures of the distal extremity of t he radius; 5 cases were sequelae of fractures of the diaphyses of the two forearm bones and/or of the head of the radius; 2 cases of instabi lity of the distal radio-ulnar joint; 2 cases of post-traumatic isolat ed arthritis of the distal radioulnar joint. Subjective evaluation by the patients of the results of surgery was as follows: 8 excellent, 6 good, 2 satisfactory and 5 poor. The most consistent improvement was a gain of mobility in pronation and supination which averaged 87 per ce nt of that of the healthy contralateral side. Nine patients were free of pain, 6 experienced some pain only during effort, and 6 still suffe red constant pain. Grip strength was the factor that changed the most: it averaged 55 per cent of that of the healthy contralateral side. In dications for the Sauve-Kapandji procedure and its results in posttrau matic lesions are discussed. This procedure is compared to other techn iques used to correct posttraumatic disorders of the distal radio-ulna r joint.