Traction radiographs in the diagnosis of chronic wrist pain.

A sensitive non-invasive diagnostic test for intrinsic ligament rupture in patients with chronic wrist pain has still to be found. Differential displacement of the scaphoid, lunate and triquetrum can in some instances be seen during arthroscopy of acute wrist injuries and also on overdistraction of distal radial fractures with an external fixator. We performed a prospective study on 20 patients with chronic wrist pain using 2 kg and 5 kg traction radiographs without and with the addition of an ischaemic block, to assess differential displacement as a diagnostic criterion for intrinsic ligament rupture. Arthroscopy was used as arbiter of diagnosis. The sensitivity ranged from 14% to 57% and the specificity ranged from 53.7% to 100% according to the amount of traction and ischaemic block. In view of these poor results we conclude the stretch test has no additional value in the preoperative assessment of chronic wrist pain.