Comparison of Three Repair Techniques to Restore Scapholunate Kinematics in a Cadaver Model of a Simulated Scapholunate Dissociation

The scapholunate ligament plays a vital role in normal physiological wrist kinematics. Rupture of this ligament is common and results in a dorsal intercalated segment instability (DISI) deformity that, if not corrected, progresses to a scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC) wrist. Multiple treatment techniques have been proposed to address scapholunate dissociation such as indirect soft tissue repairs, autografts, allografts, and arthrodesis. Yet no single procedure has proven to be superior clinically or biomechanically for chronic DISI deformity. This study accurately assesses the degree to which three repair techniques, the Reverse Blatt’s Capsulodesis [1] (RBC), the Bone-Ligament-Bone autograft repair technique (BLB) and the Reduction and Association of the Scaphoid and Lunate (RASL), restore the normal physiologic scapho-lunate in vitro kinematics following a simulated scapholunate dissociation in a human cadaveric model.