ABSTRACT
The wrist and hand function together, for all practical purposes, as a single articulated unit. The hand would be unable to perform its range of complicated movements without the reciprocal movement, positioning and stabilizing action of the wrist. Loss of movement at the wrist limits the manipulative skill of the fingers and thumb; and pain in the wrist makes it impossible to grip or pinch with full strength. Disorders of the wrist and hand are often interrelated and therefore, in the clinical setting, these two units should be examined and analysed together. However, for the sake of emphasis, they are treated here in two separate chapters.
