The Effect of a Bone Tunnel During Ligament Reconstruction for Trapeziometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A 5-Year Follow-up

This report has been verified by one or more authors of the original publication.

79 women undergoing trapeziectomy with ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition due to stage IV trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis (OA) were randomized to undergo surgery using either the Burton-Pellegrini technique with a bone tunnel, or the Weilby technique without a bone tunnel. The purpose of this study was to determine whether one technique was advantageous over the other in terms of pain and functional improvement over a 5 year follow-up period. Both techniques were found to produce similar patient outcomes, as no significant differences in pain, function, strength, patient satisfaction or incidence of post-operative complications were found between groups at both 1 year and 5 years following surgery.