Touch on One Thumb, RSI on the Other Thumb: Which Surgery Shows Better Results

Patients suffering from osteoarthritis in the first carpometacarpal joint (CMC I OA) are often surgically treated with a resection-suspension-interposition (RSI) arthroplasty. An alternative technique is an arthroplasty with a Touch® implant. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that patients with a Touch® prosthesis recover significantly faster and return to work more quickly than patients after an RSI arthroplasty. However, there have been no studies comparing the two operations in the same patient. By recruiting patients with a Touch® implant in one thumb and an RSI arthroplasty in the other thumb, this study aims to investigate whether CMC I arthroplasty using a Touch® implant leads to higher patient satisfaction compared to RSI arthroplasty in the medium-term. Further patient-reported and clinical outcomes will be assessed to compare the two surgeries.