The first CMC joint capsule and skin were closed in a layered fashion. The patient was placed into a plaster thumb spica splint and discharged the same day. Postoperative rehabilitation.

Osteoarthritis of the thumb is a chronic condition causing pain, stiffness and occasional clicking and swelling in the joint at the base of thumb (also known as the carpometacarpal or CMC joint).

(b) Restoration of alignment at the first carpometacarpal joint is seen on post reduction posteroanterior radiograph of the thumb. No fracture is identified. Figure 2.

Carpometacarpal (CMC) joint arthroplasty is a surgery to treat severe arthritis in the thumb. Doctors recommend it when other treatments, like braces or cortisone shots , no longer help with pain.

But dexterity comes at a price – an increased risk of osteoarthritis (OA) in the first carpometacarpal (CMC) joint, where the thumb meets the trapezium bone in the wrist.