Joseph Gil, MD, a hand and upper extremity surgeon at University Orthopedics in Providence, R.I., became the first surgeon in the state to perform a thumb joint replacement using the Touch CMC 1 prosthesis.
The procedure was performed at Rhode Island Hospital, part of Providence-based Brown University Health, according to an Aug. 11 news release from University Orthopedics. Known as carpometacarpal total joint arthroplasty, the procedure replaces the arthritic joint at the base of the thumb with a small ball-and-socket implant.
The Touch CMC 1 prosthesis received FDA approval in 2025 after more than a decade of use in Europe.
The implant provides an alternative to removing the arthritic trapezium bone and reconstructing the joint using nearby tendon tissue, the release said.
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