We report the use of a bone graft harvested from the palmar and ulnar aspect of the distal radius and vascularized by the palmar carpal artery for the treatment of scaphoid nonunion in 17 patients, ten of whom had already had unsuccessful surgery. Union was obtained in all cases at an average of 60 days (range, 45-90 days). The average follow-up was 16 months (range, 12-36 months). There were no failures.
The dominance of the radial or ulnar artery at the forearm level and their contributions to the circulation of the hand remain a matter of contention. Therefore, the authors proposed to investigate the predominance of one of these arteries first by anatomic studies on 40 fresh cadaver upper extremities, and then by dynamic studies. The dynamic studies included color Doppler sonography in 22 individuals (44 hands) and five-channel plethysmography in 40 individuals (40 right hands). It was found that the ulnar artery is dominant at the elbow, but after originating its collateral branches, the radial artery becomes the dominant artery in the distal forearm and, consequently, constitutes the major source of vascularization to the hand. The ulnar artery is rarely dominant at the forearm level and is physiologically less important. Therefore, there is no hemodynamic reason to prefer the radial artery to the ulnar artery for any invasive maneuvers.
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