Arthroscopic Treatment of TFCC Tear - An Experience from a Single Center

Introduction
TFCC tear is a prevalent cause of wrist pain on the ulnar side. There are numerous surgical procedures, however their efficacy is still debatable. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of wrist arthroscopy in treating TFCC tears in adults at University Medical Center HCMC, Vietnam.

Methods
The prospective descriptive study included 40 patients who underwent wrist arthroscopy for TFCC lesions between January 2021 and December 2022. MMWS, DASH scale evaluation of wrist function and VAS scale assessment of the level of pain are used to compare treatment outcomes before and after surgery at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. 

Results
An average follow-up of 15.73 ± 6.82 months, 92.5% of patients had pain symptoms significantly reduced after surgery 6 months. Pain score (VAS) improved gradually after surgery: at 1 month after surgery (4.23 ± 1.49), 3 months (1.95 ± 1.32 points), 6 months (1.03 ± 1.44 point), decreased compared to before surgery (6.90 ± 1.56 points) (p<0.001). The wrist joint function improved well compared to before surgery, which showed that the average MMWS score increased from 51.50 ± 12.57 points to 88.38 ± 10.15 points; the DASH score dropped from 38.73 ± 15.93 points to 9.23 ± 8.62 points (p<0.001). Evaluation wrist function by MMWS after surgery 6 months found good or excellent results in 35/40 patients, 4 fair and 1 poor result. Regarding complications, only 6 patients had 4th and 5th finger numbness after surgery, but it can recovery without the need for any specific treatment after 1-3 months. There were no important complications.

Conclusions
Wrist arthroscopy is an effective and safe method for treating TFCC lesions. The surgical results revealed that the patient's pain symptoms had decreased significantly, and the wrist joint function had improved more than it had before operation.