[Distal radial-ulnar arthrosis and radial-carpal arthrosis: evaluation on a population from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 18th century].

The authors report on a study on the wrists from a medieval population (end of the 15th-century, beginning of the 18th century). The distal radio-ulnar arthrosis and the radio-carpal arthrosis were assessed after a macroscopic examination of the wrist bones. Statistical treatment of the data led to correlations with age, sex and bilateral nature of injuries. The distal radio-ulnar arthrosis has statistic correlation with age (P < 0.05). There is no relationship between sex and bilateral nature of injuries. For the radio-carpal arthrosis, injuries are often present for elderly woman (P < 0.01) and young man (P < 0.05). The bilateral nature of arthrosis increases with age (P < 0.05). The wrists which are damaged by the distal radio-ulnar arthrosis are often associated with radio-carpal injuries (P < 0.05). The absence of any obvious osseous traumatic aetiology suggests a bilateral ligamentous distension for women and elderly men. A traumatic ligament rupture can be incriminated for young men maybe related to repeated microtraumatic activities.