Thumb Sprains: Thumb UCL Repair Animation

Thumb Sprains: Thumb UCL Repair Animation

This animation demonstrates a repair of the ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL, of the thumb to treat a UCL tear. In this demonstration, a large, flat suture will be used to provide more support to the repaired ligament.

Here we see a left hand with the top of the hand facing the screen. This is the damaged UCL of the thumb that requires repair. This ligament connects the 2 bones at the base of the thumb joint. After a small incision is made on the inside of the thumb, a wire will be placed in each bone to mark the location where anchors will be inserted. These locations are next to the normal attachment sites of the ligament on the bones.

The wires will then be drilled over to make small holes into the bones. An anchor is inserted into the hole near where the UCL tore from the bone. This anchor is already threaded with sutures. There are 2 sutures that will be used: the thinner blue suture, which will be used for the repair, and the larger striped suture, which will be used for extra support.

The blue suture is threaded through the UCL and used to pull the ligament back to the bone. The larger striped suture is then brought over the ligament to provide extra support. The thumb is gently moved to make sure that the support suture is not too tight or too loose prior to final placement.

A second anchor is then placed on top of the suture into the other hole, where the UCL is still attached to secure it in the bone. The extra suture is then cut off. The skin incision will be closed and the thumb UCL repair is now complete.