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Dual Mobility Trapeziometacarpal Prosthesis: a Prospective Study of 107 Cases with a Follow-Up of More Than 3 Years

·J Hand Surg Eur Vol·2021·75 citations·Hand & Upper
DOI·PubMed
SummaryAbstract on PubMed →

This prospective multicentre study reports outcomes of the Touch® dual mobility TMC prosthesis in 107 patients with thumb CMC arthritis at minimum 3-year follow-up. The central question is whether adapting the dual mobility principle from total hip arthroplasty can eliminate the persistent ~10% dislocation rate of conventional TMC implants.

Study Snapshot

Design
Prospective multicentre cohort
Setting: 3 hospitals, 3 surgeons (France and Monaco)
Funding: None (industry consultant conflicts declared)
Objective
Whether dual mobility TMC prosthesis eliminates dislocation while maintaining acceptable clinical outcomes at 3 years.
Outcome(s)
Prosthetic dislocation rate and patient satisfaction at minimum 3 years
Subjects
107 patients (118 enrolled; 11 lost to follow-up)
  • Touch® dual mobility TMC prosthesis
Inclusion
  • TMC arthritis requiring surgical treatment
  • Touch® prosthesis implanted by one of three surgeons
  • Agreed to clinical and radiological follow-up protocol
Exclusion
  • Inability to understand or consent to study
  • Less than 3 years of follow-up available
Follow-up
Minimum 3 years (mean 40 months, range 36–52)
Statistics
Student t-testWilcoxon test

Key Findings

  • Zero dislocations occurred in 107 consecutive cases, directly validating the dual mobility concept. Traditional single-mobility TMC prostheses dislocate in up to 10% of cases; the enlarged 7 mm preassembled insert-neck unit increases the head's escape distance, mechanically explaining why this design works.
  • 95% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied (102/107), with VAS pain dropping from 7.4 to 0.8 (p < 0.001) and QuickDASH improving from 38 to 20 (p < 0.01). Key-pinch strength increased from 3.5 kg to 5.5 kg — a clinically meaningful recovery of pinch function.
  • The 4.6% revision rate (5/107) was driven by three distinct failure modes:
    –Cup loosening: 2 cases (at 25 and 36 months)
    –Polyethylene wear: 2 cases (both male heavy manual labourers, ~44–48 months)
    –Early cup tilting: 1 case (technical error in trapezium preparation)
  • Both polyethylene wear failures occurred in men who returned to heavy manual labour at approximately 44–48 months postoperatively. This directly led the authors to contraindicate TMC prosthesis in heavy manual labourers and recommend trapeziectomy instead.
  • Periprosthetic radiolucent lines appeared around 13% of stems and 8% of cups, but were largely non-progressive. Only 2 of 9 cup lucent zones advanced to symptomatic loosening requiring revision. Seeing a radiolucent line on postoperative X-ray does not mandate revision. Context and progression matter.
  • Concurrent STT osteoarthritis was present in 16% of cases and was associated with higher residual pain (VAS 1.3 vs 0.9 without STT disease). Screening for STT arthritis preoperatively sets realistic pain expectations and is part of routine workup.
Board PearlApplying dual mobility to TMC arthroplasty eliminated dislocation in 107 cases — but heavy manual labour drives polyethylene wear failure, making trapeziectomy the better choice for that population.

Clinical Relevance

Dislocation has been the Achilles heel of TMC arthroplasty since the first de la Caffinière prosthesis in 1973, occurring in up to 10% of cases and driving many surgeons back to trapeziectomy as the default.

This series shows that dual mobility engineering eliminates that failure mode entirely. When a patient with thumb CMC arthritis asks about prosthesis versus trapeziectomy, the dislocation concern no longer applies to this design.

The critical patient-selection rule this paper establishes: heavy manual labour predicts polyethylene wear failure at 3–4 years, so steer those patients toward trapeziectomy regardless of how good the stability data look.

When you see periprosthetic radiolucent lines on follow-up films, don't reflexively plan revision. Most are stress-shielding around the stem and remain stable. Track progression at each visit, and act only when cup lucent zones expand alongside symptoms.

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|

Dual Mobility Trapeziometacarpal Prosthesis: a Prospective Study of 107 Cases with a Follow-Up of More Than 3 Years

·J Hand Surg Eur Vol·2021·75 citations·Hand & Upper
DOI·PubMed
SummaryAbstract on PubMed →

This prospective multicentre study reports outcomes of the Touch® dual mobility TMC prosthesis in 107 patients with thumb CMC arthritis at minimum 3-year follow-up. The central question is whether adapting the dual mobility principle from total hip arthroplasty can eliminate the persistent ~10% dislocation rate of conventional TMC implants.

Study Snapshot

Design
Prospective multicentre cohort
Setting: 3 hospitals, 3 surgeons (France and Monaco)
Funding: None (industry consultant conflicts declared)
Objective
Whether dual mobility TMC prosthesis eliminates dislocation while maintaining acceptable clinical outcomes at 3 years.
Outcome(s)
Prosthetic dislocation rate and patient satisfaction at minimum 3 years
Subjects
107 patients (118 enrolled; 11 lost to follow-up)
  • Touch® dual mobility TMC prosthesis
Inclusion
  • TMC arthritis requiring surgical treatment
  • Touch® prosthesis implanted by one of three surgeons
  • Agreed to clinical and radiological follow-up protocol
Exclusion
  • Inability to understand or consent to study
  • Less than 3 years of follow-up available
Follow-up
Minimum 3 years (mean 40 months, range 36–52)
Statistics
Student t-testWilcoxon test

Key Findings

  • Zero dislocations occurred in 107 consecutive cases, directly validating the dual mobility concept. Traditional single-mobility TMC prostheses dislocate in up to 10% of cases; the enlarged 7 mm preassembled insert-neck unit increases the head's escape distance, mechanically explaining why this design works.
  • 95% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied (102/107), with VAS pain dropping from 7.4 to 0.8 (p < 0.001) and QuickDASH improving from 38 to 20 (p < 0.01). Key-pinch strength increased from 3.5 kg to 5.5 kg — a clinically meaningful recovery of pinch function.
  • The 4.6% revision rate (5/107) was driven by three distinct failure modes:
    –Cup loosening: 2 cases (at 25 and 36 months)
    –Polyethylene wear: 2 cases (both male heavy manual labourers, ~44–48 months)
    –Early cup tilting: 1 case (technical error in trapezium preparation)
  • Both polyethylene wear failures occurred in men who returned to heavy manual labour at approximately 44–48 months postoperatively. This directly led the authors to contraindicate TMC prosthesis in heavy manual labourers and recommend trapeziectomy instead.
  • Periprosthetic radiolucent lines appeared around 13% of stems and 8% of cups, but were largely non-progressive. Only 2 of 9 cup lucent zones advanced to symptomatic loosening requiring revision. Seeing a radiolucent line on postoperative X-ray does not mandate revision. Context and progression matter.
  • Concurrent STT osteoarthritis was present in 16% of cases and was associated with higher residual pain (VAS 1.3 vs 0.9 without STT disease). Screening for STT arthritis preoperatively sets realistic pain expectations and is part of routine workup.
Board PearlApplying dual mobility to TMC arthroplasty eliminated dislocation in 107 cases — but heavy manual labour drives polyethylene wear failure, making trapeziectomy the better choice for that population.

Clinical Relevance

Dislocation has been the Achilles heel of TMC arthroplasty since the first de la Caffinière prosthesis in 1973, occurring in up to 10% of cases and driving many surgeons back to trapeziectomy as the default.

This series shows that dual mobility engineering eliminates that failure mode entirely. When a patient with thumb CMC arthritis asks about prosthesis versus trapeziectomy, the dislocation concern no longer applies to this design.

The critical patient-selection rule this paper establishes: heavy manual labour predicts polyethylene wear failure at 3–4 years, so steer those patients toward trapeziectomy regardless of how good the stability data look.

When you see periprosthetic radiolucent lines on follow-up films, don't reflexively plan revision. Most are stress-shielding around the stem and remain stable. Track progression at each visit, and act only when cup lucent zones expand alongside symptoms.

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