Synovectomy of the wrist was done on 77 patients ( 97 wrists) during [1968][1969][1970][1971][1972][1973][1974][1975][1976][1977][1978][1979][1980][1981] The age of the patients at the time of operation ranged from 18 to 77 years, mean 44 9 yrs Clinical and radiological followup examinations ( 90 wrists) or follow-up evaluation by questionnaire ( 7 wrists) were made by the authors in 1982 The mean length of the follow-up period was 8 5 years Clinical symptoms of pain, swelling, restricted motion, instability and deformity of the wrist joint were evaluated and graded according to a special score Radiological changes due to rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthrosis were graded and analysed Eight wrists were arthrodesed during the follow-up Among the remaining wrists ( 89 cases) pain was absent or almost absent in 39 %, was less than before the operation in 49 % and was unchanged or worse in 12 % of cases The respective percentages for the presence of swelling were 47 %, 36 %, and 17 % The range of dorsiflexion was between 0 and 700, with an average of 27.9 °The range of volar flexion was between 0 and 75 °, the mean being 28 20 The average ulnar and radial side motions were 12 90 and 5 40, respectively. The radiological grading of RA remained about the same in 10 wrists and did not improve in a single wrist. In the other wrists the X-ray changes progressed The results (patient's opinion) were subjectively good in 53 %, fair in 32 %, and poor in 15 % The result of the synovectomy must be evaluated as poor in the wrists that were arthrodesed ( 8 cases) The overall objective results of the 90 wrists examined personally were: good in 54 cases ( 60 %), fair in 17 ( 19 %) and poor in 19 ( 21 %) In conclusion, we recommend surgical synovectomy of the wrist for alleviation of pain and swelling in RA, despite the deterioration shown by the X-ray.