Surgical treatment of scaphoid pseudarthrosis: evaluation of the results after soft tissue arthroplasty and inlay bone grafting.

A retrospective study of the results after surgical treatment of scaphoid nonunion in two orthopedic centers is described. One center used Bentzon 's soft tissue-arthroplasty method in 15 cases, and the other center used Matti - Russe bone grafting procedure in 32 cases. Of these 47 cases, 46 had established pseudarthroses. The clinical results were similar in both methods (average follow-up time: 61.4 and 44.0 months, respectively). Soft tissue arthroplasty permitted an earlier return to work, but the risk of long-term degenerative changes developing cannot yet be excluded.