FLEXOR CARPI RADIALIS TENDINITIS .2. RESULTS OF OPERATIVE TREATMENT

We retrospectively reviewed the results of decompression of the flexor carpi radialis tunnel in ten patients (six women and four men) who ha d tendinitis. The average age of the patients at the time of the opera tion was forty-four years (range, twenty-five to fifty-eight years). T he average duration of follow-up was forty-four months (range, twenty- eight to seventy-six months). The primary symptom was pain, localized to the proximal aspect of the trapezium, that was accentuated by resis ted flexion of the wrist and radial deviation. The diagnosis was confi rmed in five patients when Xylocaine (lidocaine), injected into the ar ea of the tenderness, decreased the pain. Two patients had evidence of idiopathic tendinitis, which one patient believed to be associated wi th activities involving repetitive flexion of the wrist. The tendiniti s developed after fracture of the scaphoid in two patients, fracture o f the distal aspect of the radius in one, excision of a ganglion in tw o, carpometacarpal arthrodesis in one, and blunt trauma in two. The me an duration of symptoms before the operative intervention was sixteen months (range, one to forty-three months) The intraoperative findings included adhesions in six patients, attrition or rupture of a tendon i n four, exostosis in three, stenosis in three, and an anomalous tendon in one patient. Additional procedures, such as excision of a ganglion , removal of an exostosis, tendon transfer, or application of a fat gr aft, were performed in seven patients. Nine of the ten patients had re lief of the symptoms and were able to resume their preoperative employ ment and leisure activities. One patient continued to be symptomatic. The result was excellent in three patients, good in five, fair in one, and poor in one.