Wrist denervation provides joint pain relief for the radiocarpal, ulnocarpal, and distal radioulnar joints. Patients with joint pain can utilize non-surgical pain management options including bracing, activity modification, hand therapy, and cortisone injections. When these fail patients are traditionally offered joint replacement or fusion procedures. Denervation is a less invasive surgical management technique that provides pain relief with quicker return to function than joint replacement.

A recent study conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona showed wrist pain relief with a denervation technique for patients with wrist arthritis. In this study patients underwent a wrist denervation procedure for treatment of pain and were found to have significant reduction in pain, increase in function, and increase in quality of life.

The benefits of denervation and not only seen for primary treatment of osteoarthritis but also for concomitant treatment with other wrist salvage procedures. In a large, long-term study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester comparing wrist salvage procedures (proximal row carpectomy versus four corner fusion) the only factor that led to improved long term outcomes was an associated wrist denervation procedure.

Wrist denervation procedures can both treat pain as a stand alone procedure, and also offer additional pain relief with wrist reconstruction procedures. Ongoing research is being conducted on the use of wrist denervation with triangular fibrocartilage repair and for the treatment of distal radioulnar arthritis.

Links to clinical studies are provided. A surgical technique video on wrist denervation is provided for healthcare professionals.