Abstract

Acute rupture of the ulnar collateral ligament of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint of the thumb is often sustained in downhill skiing accidents and is hence called skiers thumb. All complete ruptures seen at our hospital between 1975 and 1979 were operated using the fishhook pullout wire technique. Follow-up results 29 months after early operation are presented for 47 cases. The overall results are exellent in 29, good in 14, and fair in 3 patients. One result had to be considered a failure. No patients had serious functional impairment or major constant pain. No patient took any pain medication. No reintervention was necessary. The distal bony avulsions showed the most favorable prognosis, and the ligamentous midsubstance tears, the least favorable. The fishhook pullout wire technique can be used in both ligamentous and bony avulsions ofthe ulnar collateral ligament and provides good or excellent results in 90 of the cases. Verf.-Referat