What you may dismiss as a sprained wrist could indicate a deeper problem. Kienböck's disease, or avascular necrosis of the lunate, affects the lunate bone in the wrist. The bone is one of eight within the wrist and is responsible for movement and joint support. The condition cuts off the blood supply to the lunate bone, causing it to die. Here, the MRI team at Main Street Radiology in Bayside, NY, provide important details about the disease people often have without realizing it.

Causes of Kienböck's Disease

The cause of this debilitating disease remains unknown; however, health experts frequently cite wrist trauma, such as a serious fall. Kienböck's disease is also prevalent in those with sickle cell anemia, lupus, and other medical conditions that interfere with normal blood circulation. Other potential explanations are genetic, such as a skeletal variation causing irregular lunate shapes or one rather than two blood vessels providing the bone with essential nutrients.

Symptoms & Diagnosis

Symptoms of Kienböck's disease typically include a painful, inflamed wrist, decreased grip strength and range of motion, lunate bone tenderness, and pain when turning the hand upward. Because the disease progresses slowly, you may not connect your symptoms to the condition until they worsen.

Physicians diagnose the disease in one of four stages. Stage One symptoms are similar to normal wrist pain. Stage Two involves lunate bone hardening due to lack of blood, while Stage Three symptoms include lunate bone deterioration. In Stage Four, the surrounding bones also begin to break down. MRI scans provide physicians with the vital information they need to diagnose the disease according to the stage and create a comprehensive treatment plan.

Treatments

If the disease is diagnosed early enough, wrist immobilization techniques and OTC anti-inflammatory medication may provide the necessary treatment. Should the disease progress or remain undiagnosed, it will require a surgical approach. Such options include revascularization, or removing some bone with attached blood vessels from the hand or forearm to create a vascularized graft in the wrist.

Additional procedures include joint leveling and proximal row carpectomy. Joint leveling involves lengthening or shortening the bone, while proximal row carpectomy removes deteriorated lunate bone as well as the surrounding bones to relieve pain and partially restore range of motion.

If you believe your wrist pain is connected to this disease, schedule an MRI with Main Street Radiology as soon as possible. Bone density testing and ultrasounds are among the many other services available from this American College of Radiology-accredited center. Call (718) 428-1500 to schedule an MRI appointment or visit the website to see how they can assist. Like the Facebook page to receive regular health and wellness tips.