Overall wrist biomechanics are conserved by phenol-based embalming.

Although cadaveric specimens that have been fresh-frozen then thawed are considered the gold standard for biomechanics research, because they most closely represent in vivo tissues, potential problems include a relatively short useful time-span and risk of infection. A recently reported new method of phenol-based "soft" embalming has been found to preserve tissues in a fresh-like state over an extended period of time and simultaneously reduced infection risks. This study presents radio-ulnar deviation end-range data from 4 soft-embalmed and refrigerated human cadaveric forearm specimens over 12 months.