Evolution of total wrist arthroplasty

Excerpt

Since the first wrist implant in 1890 by Glück in the form of an ivory prosthesis, the evolution of the prosthetic wrist has been sawtoothing. Abandoned in the late nineteenth century due to infectious complications, they reappeared after the Second World War. Several concepts have rubbed shoulders for decades. It flourished simple and lightweight silicone implants Swanson and complex and heavy metal prostheses Meuli kind. Silicone implants gave spectacular results in the early years but were abandoned due to siliconite and / or implant fracture. The metallic prostheses can be categorised into multiple implants or "ball and socket", cemented or not, inverted or not, with or without polyethylene or retentive unconstrained. Several generations have been developed to reduce complications. However, regardless of the type of prosthesis, survival at 5 years did not exceed 50% mainly due to the loosening of the carpal component. …