title: Functional kinematics of the wrist.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to review past and present concepts concerning functional kinematics of the healthy and injured wrist. To provide a context for students of the wrist, we describe the progression of techniques for measuring carpal kinematics over the past century and discuss how this has influenced today's understanding of functional kinematics. Next, we provide an overview of recent developments and highlight the clinical relevance of these findings. We use these findings and recent evidence that supports the importance of coupled motion in early rehabilitation of radiocarpal injuries to develop the argument that coupled motion during functional activities is a clinically relevant outcome; therefore, clinicians should develop a framework for its dynamic assessment. This should enable a tailored and individualized approach to the treatment of carpal injuries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering & Human Mobility Research Centre, Queen's University Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Rainbow
authors.affiliation: Leon Root Motion Analysis Laboratory, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Crisco
authors.affiliation: The Hand and Upper Extremity Center, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA WolfeS@hss.edu.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Wolfe
mesh_terms: D001168:Arthritis / Q000503:physiopathology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002348:Carpal Bones / Q000502:physiology; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D014955:Wrist Joint / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Carpal kinematics; carpus; dart thrower’s motion; midcarpal joint; scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC); wrist coupled motion; wrist function