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MRI conducted in 32 cases of distal fracture of the radius a mean of 93 days after trauma allowed for the identification of various lesions of the soft tissues among which those of the triangular fibrocartilaginous complex. These observations confirm the presence of lesions of the triangular fibrocartilaginous complex (TFC) among immediate complications of distal fractures of the radius and the diagnostic role of MRI in post-traumatic ulnar pain.

Stenosis of the canal secondary to poor consolidation of fractures of the distal radial epiphysis is one of the causes of compression on the median nerve of the wrist. Other post-traumatic compressive pathologies of the median nerve when there are no significant skeletal modifications caused by probable involvement of the soft tissues surrounding and within the canal are also described. MR was used to study 23 patients affected with the sequelae of fracture of the radial distal epiphysis who presented with clinical and electromyographic signs of carpal tunnel syndrome, and were submitted to decompressive surgery. MR showed indirect signs of compression, such as morphological changes of the median nerve, as well as post-traumatic changes in the carpal canal. MR allows for a complete anatomical view of the canal structures implicated in causing post-traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome.