Measurement of quality of life among patient undergoing arthroplasty of the thumb to treat CMC arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To present the clinical and functional results, including measurement of quality of life, of patients undergoing trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty.

METHOD: This was a prospective evaluation on 45 patients (53 thumbs) with a diagnosis of idiopathic rhizarthrosis who underwent resection arthroplasty and interposition of an uncemented Ascension(®) implant, made of pyrocarbon. The clinical and functional results were analyzed through radiography, range of motion (ROM) in degrees (°), visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and the disability of arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) questionnaire for quality of life. In the group analyzed, 38 were women and seven were men, and their mean age was 63.17 years (range: 50-78). Eight patients were treated bilaterally.

RESULTS: After 42.08 months of follow-up (range: 8-73), the subjective pain evaluation (VAS) score was 1.37 (range: 1-4). The complete ROM of the thumb increased to 95.75% (range: 75-100%) in relation to the contralateral side. The mean DASH questionnaire score was 9.98 (range: 1-18). The complication rate (negative events) was 11.32%. Five patients presented dislocation of the thumb prosthesis. All of them were reoperated by means of dorsal capsuloplasty using a portion of the retinaculum of the extensors as a graft, and good clinical evolution was achieved in these cases. One patient presented fracturing of the metacarpal and was treated by means of osteosynthesis using Kirschner wires.

CONCLUSION: This method is effective for treating rhizarthrosis, according to the measurements made on the clinical and functional results, even after taking the complication rate into consideration. Moreover, it provides an improvement of quality of life for these patients.