[Ruptures of the tendons of the hand and wrist in rheumatoid arthritis].

We report our experience with 23 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who presented 48 tendon lesions involving 32 extensor tendons and 16 flexion tendons. Translocations of healthy tendons, overlapping with adjacent healthy tendons and tendon grafts were performed. Results for extensor tendons, expressed as defect in residual extension were excellent in 8 patients, good in 5 and mediocre in 4. For flexor tendons, there were 2 excellent results and 5 mediocre results in terms of thumb-palm contact. Prevention by early synovectomy is particularly important.