Wrist and hand

TFCC injury

Mechanism: Damage to the triangular fibrocartilage complex, the cartilage disc with its ligaments on the ulnar side of the wrist. Traumatic from a fall with axial load and rotation, or degenerative with a long ulna.
Recognition: Ulnar wrist pain increasing on forearm rotation and on weight bearing through the hand, often with a click. Tenderness in the hollow between the ulnar head and the styloid, and a positive compression test.
Course: The central part of the disc has no blood supply of its own and therefore does not heal spontaneously; the peripheral parts do. That distinction determines whether watchful waiting makes sense.

Structures