wrist surgery: four corner fusion or proximal row carpectomy

Dear All, 

I was very glad to find this group as i have been advice to do a 4CF (4-corner fusion) or a PRC (proximal row carpectomy), i have a dead scaphoid that was operated 20 years ago and apparently it is time to opt for one of these operation to avoid a full fusion (wrist on arm) - i am terrified to opt for something that will cripple me for the rest of my life and stop me from climbing. So I took to the internet to find experiences from other climbers and i have not been able to find anything, so i am posting with the hope that i can gather experiences from other climbers that have undergone this surgeries, are yo able to climb without pain, can you still make progress, can you hang and train? was the recovery okay? etc etc - Any information any of you can share would be incredibly valuable to me.

Hoping the best for everyone and thanking in advance !

Cheers
Fer

Fernando, 

Facing the same thing now. How’d you move forward? Hope you have good news!

Ken

Hi Ken,  sorry to hear you are on the same boat.. i only found one climber that had had the PRC and a year or 2 after the operation had to go for a full fusion, but she had had multiple wrist issues so her story is not fully compatible, probably none are..

I had opted for the 4CF as this one preserves your wrist anatomy and it is not as invasive, but I did not move forwards with it, i visited 4 different surgeons and none could guaranty the desired outcome. So i am taking my chances knowing that at some point i will have to have the full fusion, im only hoping that is far in the future. Having said that i often doubt my choice and would easily change of opinion if i had more pain or a better promise.

I wish i had better news for you, btw whats your story? have you read the history of these operations and the existing research? how old are you?

Cheers!

Fer

Thanks for the response. I have a nonunited scaphoid fracture from a fall off a bike. It happened years ago, and despite an X-ray, was diagnosed as a sprain at the time. Years later it turns out it had broke, the proximal pole of the scaphoid died (necrosis) and then starting fragmenting in my wrist creating arthritis. I can generally climb but it flares up regularly if I climb too dynamically and stress it in odds positions. Surgeons said it would be PRC to address the pain if I need.