Custom-made wrist prothesis (UNI-2™) in a patient with giant cell tumor of the distal radius: 10-year follow-up

Wrist endoprosthesis is still an exceptional indication compared to the prosthesis of large joints, especially when a rescue surgery procedure of the wrist is no longer possible and the complete wrist arthrodesis is to be considered the ultima ratio. However, a suspended function in the wrist is accompanied by a significant restriction in the patient`s daily life. Using the fourth-generation endoprosthesis, the situation regarding long-term results for the hand has already improved. This means that a durability of more than 6 years is no longer a rarity. Defect situations in joints, in particular those which occur after tumor, still pose a greater challenge. If autologous reconstructions cannot be performed, custom-made prostheses can be considered as very rare indications for joint reconstruction. While these have been used for years on large joints such as shoulder, elbow, knee and hip, they have only been described on the hand in particular cases. We report the 10-year follow-up of implantation of a custom-made wrist prothesis (UNI-2™, KMI, Germany) in a 36-year-old patient with tumorous destruction of the distal radius by a giant cell tumor.