The 2014 ABJS Nicolas Andry Award: The puzzle of the thumb: mobility, stability, and demands in opposition.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The paradoxical demands of stability and mobility reflect the purpose and function of the human thumb. Its functional importance is underscored when a thumb is congenitally absent, injured, or afflicted with degenerative arthritis. Prevailing literature and teaching implicate the unique shape of the thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) joint, as well as its ligament support, applied forces, and repetitive motion, as culprits causing osteoarthritis (OA). Sex, ethnicity, and occupation may predispose individuals to OA.

Questions/purposes

What evidence links ligament structure, forces, and motion to progressive CMC disease? Specifically: (1) Do unique attributes of the bony and ligamentous anatomy contribute to OA? (2) Can discrete joint load patterns be established that cont

SUBMITTER: Ladd AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4397810 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature