RAPID TRIPLE-COMPARTMENT WRIST ARTHROGRAPHY WITH DILUTED CONTRAST-MEDIUM

Triple-compartment wrist arthrography is currently considered the opti mal technique for evaluating carpal instability, because injection of contrast agent into the radio-carpal joint alone can fail to reveal li gamentous disruption due to a ball-valve tear. Unfortunately, triple-c ompartment arthrography can be time consuming for both the patient and the radiologist. This report describes a technique for rapid triple-c ompartment wrist arthrography with standard (as opposed to digital sub traction) fluoroscopy. This technique reduces the time necessary to pe rform the study to 30 to 45 minutes without sacrificing diagnostic acc uracy.