Properties of the fibrous structures of the wrist.

Every fibrous structure of ten wrists of fresh cadavers has been the object of an elastometric study. The opposite wrists have been studied surgically and then histologically with the optical microscope. Comparison between the two shows a close relationship between the mechanical features and the morphology of the bundles, which proved also to be perfectly measurable. It also displays the great differences between ligaments and tendons. Histological study of the tendons and ligaments of four other wrists subjected to manoeuvres of axial loading, rupture and bending, reinforces these statements. The therapeutic consequences are considered.