Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up

Purpose: Wrist ligament surgeries are common procedures, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their incidence and trends. This study is a retrospective registry study aimed at investigating nationwide incidence of wrist ligament surgeries from 1997 to 2021, in Finland. Methods: The data were r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Annele Marianne Pönkkö, MD, Antti Kalevi Kaivorinne, MD, Ville Matti Mattila, MD, PhD, Aleksi Rafael Reito, MD, PhD, Mikko Petteri Räisänen, MD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589514125000325
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850136155422457856
author Annele Marianne Pönkkö, MD
Antti Kalevi Kaivorinne, MD
Ville Matti Mattila, MD, PhD
Aleksi Rafael Reito, MD, PhD
Mikko Petteri Räisänen, MD
author_facet Annele Marianne Pönkkö, MD
Antti Kalevi Kaivorinne, MD
Ville Matti Mattila, MD, PhD
Aleksi Rafael Reito, MD, PhD
Mikko Petteri Räisänen, MD
author_sort Annele Marianne Pönkkö, MD
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: Wrist ligament surgeries are common procedures, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their incidence and trends. This study is a retrospective registry study aimed at investigating nationwide incidence of wrist ligament surgeries from 1997 to 2021, in Finland. Methods: The data were retrieved from national electronic registry, the Finnish National Hospital Discharge Register. The primary outcome variable was the incidence of surgically treated wrist ligament tears per 100,000 person-years. Results: Our study detected a 23-fold increase in traumatic wrist ligament surgery incidence from 1997 to 2014 (from 0.48 to 11.4), followed by a steep decrease to one-third (from 11.4 to 4.0) between 2014 and 2021. The incidence of arthroscopic procedures was more than twofold compared to open procedures. In 2013, the incidence of arthroscopic procedures peaked, with arthroscopic procedures being performed more than four times as frequently as open ones. Conclusions: Our study has uncovered a notable increase in the incidence of wrist ligament surgeries, particularly in traumatic cases, over a 25-year period in Finland. This rise was prominent, and the trend continued until 2014, after which a decline was observed. A similar pattern was noted in the incidence of all arthroscopic ligament tear procedures, especially in the debridement of traumatic tears. The precise reasons for the observed rise and subsequent decline remain unknown, but factors such as advancements in imaging, equipment availability, development of surgical techniques, long and demanding learning curve for arthroscopic procedures, industry influences, scientific publications, and a larger proportion of young hand surgeons may have played a role. We believe that reporting operative trends, based on a reliable national registry, is valuable for enabling informed planning and resource allocation. However, further studies are needed to reveal the exact reasons behind these incidence changes and to evaluate the overall health care cost burden of these procedures. Type of study/level of evidence: Therapeutic IV.
format Article
id doaj-art-7ad604e8489a4cbaa7d05d02efb21fce
institution OA Journals
issn 2589-5141
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online
spelling doaj-art-7ad604e8489a4cbaa7d05d02efb21fce2025-08-20T02:31:12ZengElsevierJournal of Hand Surgery Global Online2589-51412025-07-017410071310.1016/j.jhsg.2025.02.006Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-UpAnnele Marianne Pönkkö, MD0Antti Kalevi Kaivorinne, MD1Ville Matti Mattila, MD, PhD2Aleksi Rafael Reito, MD, PhD3Mikko Petteri Räisänen, MD4Department of Hand Surgery and Orthopaedics, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, FinlandDivision of Musculoskeletal Diseases, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, FinlandDivision of Musculoskeletal Diseases, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland; Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, FinlandDivision of Musculoskeletal Diseases, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland; Coxa Hospital for Joint Replacement, Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland; Department of Orthopaedics, Traumatology and Hand Surgery, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; Corresponding author: Mikko Petteri Räisänen, MD, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, 33520 Tampere, Finland.Purpose: Wrist ligament surgeries are common procedures, but there is a lack of knowledge regarding their incidence and trends. This study is a retrospective registry study aimed at investigating nationwide incidence of wrist ligament surgeries from 1997 to 2021, in Finland. Methods: The data were retrieved from national electronic registry, the Finnish National Hospital Discharge Register. The primary outcome variable was the incidence of surgically treated wrist ligament tears per 100,000 person-years. Results: Our study detected a 23-fold increase in traumatic wrist ligament surgery incidence from 1997 to 2014 (from 0.48 to 11.4), followed by a steep decrease to one-third (from 11.4 to 4.0) between 2014 and 2021. The incidence of arthroscopic procedures was more than twofold compared to open procedures. In 2013, the incidence of arthroscopic procedures peaked, with arthroscopic procedures being performed more than four times as frequently as open ones. Conclusions: Our study has uncovered a notable increase in the incidence of wrist ligament surgeries, particularly in traumatic cases, over a 25-year period in Finland. This rise was prominent, and the trend continued until 2014, after which a decline was observed. A similar pattern was noted in the incidence of all arthroscopic ligament tear procedures, especially in the debridement of traumatic tears. The precise reasons for the observed rise and subsequent decline remain unknown, but factors such as advancements in imaging, equipment availability, development of surgical techniques, long and demanding learning curve for arthroscopic procedures, industry influences, scientific publications, and a larger proportion of young hand surgeons may have played a role. We believe that reporting operative trends, based on a reliable national registry, is valuable for enabling informed planning and resource allocation. However, further studies are needed to reveal the exact reasons behind these incidence changes and to evaluate the overall health care cost burden of these procedures. Type of study/level of evidence: Therapeutic IV.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589514125000325IncidenceLigamentNationwide ratesSurgeryWrist
spellingShingle Annele Marianne Pönkkö, MD
Antti Kalevi Kaivorinne, MD
Ville Matti Mattila, MD, PhD
Aleksi Rafael Reito, MD, PhD
Mikko Petteri Räisänen, MD
Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up
Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online
Incidence
Ligament
Nationwide rates
Surgery
Wrist
title Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up
title_full Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up
title_fullStr Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up
title_full_unstemmed Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up
title_short Wrist Ligament Surgeries: Nationwide Incidence in a 25-year Follow-Up
title_sort wrist ligament surgeries nationwide incidence in a 25 year follow up
topic Incidence
Ligament
Nationwide rates
Surgery
Wrist
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589514125000325
work_keys_str_mv AT annelemarianneponkkomd wristligamentsurgeriesnationwideincidenceina25yearfollowup
AT anttikalevikaivorinnemd wristligamentsurgeriesnationwideincidenceina25yearfollowup
AT villemattimattilamdphd wristligamentsurgeriesnationwideincidenceina25yearfollowup
AT aleksirafaelreitomdphd wristligamentsurgeriesnationwideincidenceina25yearfollowup
AT mikkopetteriraisanenmd wristligamentsurgeriesnationwideincidenceina25yearfollowup