Although it appears that no one procedure produces greater benefit in terms of pain and physical function, there was insufficient evidence to be conclusive. Trapeziectomy has fewer complications than trapeziectomy with LRTI.

We did not identify any studies that compared surgery to sham surgery or to non-operative treatments. We were unable to demonstrate that any technique confers a benefit over another technique in terms of pain and physical function. Furthermore, the included studies were not of high enough quality to provide conclusive evidence that the compared techniques provided equivalent outcomes.

We did not identify any studies that compared surgery to sham surgery and we excluded studies that compared surgery to non-operative treatments. We were unable to demonstrate that any technique confers a benefit over another technique in terms of pain and physical function. Furthermore, the included studies were not of high enough quality to provide conclusive evidence that the compared techniques provided equivalent outcomes.

No one procedure produced greater strength than any other. Although this also appears to be the case for pain and physical function, there was insufficient evidence to be conclusive. Trapeziectomy is safer and has fewer complications than the other procedures studied in this review, and conversely trapeziectomy with LRTI has more.

The management of anticoagulated patients requiring surgery presents a challenge to hand surgeons. The risk of bleeding related complications needs to be weighed up against the increased risk of thrombotic events if anticoagulants are altered or ceased. There is literature reporting the safety of hand, skin, eye and dental surgery on patients taking anticoagulants, and there is literature highlighting the risks associated with altering regular anticoagulant medication. However, it is common practice to cease or alter patients' anticoagulants peri-operatively for hand surgery. We report a prospective study of 107 patients taking anticoagulants who underwent 121 hand operations from December 2005 to August 2009. There was only one significant complication, that being a haematoma which occurred in a patient taking clopidogrel. We conclude that interruption to therapy with warfarin (provided the INR is not greater than 3.0), clopidogrel or clopidogrel with aspirin is unnecessary for patients undergoing hand surgery.