Papers of the Week

Pisiform pathology may be a source of ulnar-sided wrist pain. This study reviews the long-term outcomes of patients treated with pisiformectomy. A retrospective study approved by the institutional review board was performed over a 27-year period of patients undergoing pisiformectomy. Range of motion, grip strength, complications, and need for revision surgery were recorded. The series includes 61 wrists (60 patients) with an average age at surgery of 46 years. Two complications were noted (3%): a postoperative ulnar nerve palsy and symptomatic retained suture. At final follow-up, average flexion-extension arc was 81% (expressed as percent of contralateral), radioulnar deviation arc was 88%, and average grip strength was 89%. Pisiformectomy is a reliable, motion-preserving procedure with low complication rates for patients with chronic ulnar-sided wrist pain. In this series, 93% of patients did not require further procedures at an average of 8.2 years follow-up. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 28(3):196-200, 2019).