Dubious space for Artelon joint resurfacing for basal thumb (trapeziometacarpal joint) osteoarthritis. A systematic review.

Introduction: Trapeziometacarpal arthritis is a common and disabling condition. There is no evidence in the literature of superiority of one surgical procedure over others. Several prosthetic implants have been introduced to preserve joint mobility.

Sourced of data: We searched the on Medline (PubMed), Web of Science and Scopus databases using the combined keywords 'artelon', 'thumb', 'carpometacarpal', 'trapeziometacarpal' and 'rhizoarthrosis'; 11 studies were identified.

Areas of agreement: The use of Artelon implant is not recommended because of its high revision rate and worse outcomes compared to conventional techniques.

Areas of controversy: Inert materials subjected to compressive and shearing forces could produce debris and subsequent inflammatory response. There is debate in the published scientific literature regarding the role of preoperative antibiotic profilaxis and post-surgery inflammatory response.

Growing points: Standard techniques such as trapeziectomy alone or combined with interposition or suspensionplasty offer effective treatment for thumb basal joint arthritis.

Areas timely for developing research: Several prosthetic implants show promising results in terms of pain relief and functional request, but there is a need of long-term randomized controlled trials to demonstrate their equivalence, and eventually superiority, compared to standard techniques.