Good radiological and functional results after intramedullary nailing of distal radius fractures

Abstract

To evaluate the results after fixation of distal radius fractures using Micronail internal fixation, a prospective cohort study was performed, including displaced fractures of the distal radius (AO type A 2.2, A3.1, and A3.2). In total, 60 patients were included and 44 patients were available for 1-year follow-up (radiological and clinical examination) and 39 for 5-year follow-up (telephone interview). It was found that all fractures healed, with an average radial volar tilt of 2°, radial length of 11 mm, and a radial inclination of 22°. The functional result was excellent-to-good in 93% of the patients. Thirteen patients (30%) reported paraesthesia of the superficial branch of the radial nerve at the 1-year follow-up. In four patients the paraesthesia of the radial nerve was persistent. No other complications or reoperations were reported by the patients at the 5-year follow-up and only one implant had been removed. The study confirms that the Micronail is a minimal invasive method that can provide a stable fixation of selected distal radius fractures and provide a good functional outcome with a very low need of implant removal after fracture healing with few complications related to the operation, the main complication being permanent damage to the radial nerve.

Outcome after treatment of distal radius fractures in the elderly using the IlluminOss® System

“…In this study we found a complication rate of 22%, where in one case a re-operation was performed, approximately 2 years after primary surgery. Literature provides a large diversity of complications and complication rates for K-wire fixation (6.5-28%), plate fixation (3.2-36%), and intramedullary nailing (18-36%) [17,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In this study the percentage of complications was within these ranges.…”

“…Good or excellent radiographic results after surgical treatment of distal radius fractures have been reported frequently [22,25,[27][28][29]. Brennan et al found superior radiological outcome in favor of volar plate fixation, when comparing it to percutaneous K-wire fixation [28].…”

Treatment options in extra-articular distal radius fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Among the 109 studies were 21 randomized controlled trials, 37 prospective studies, and 51 retrospective studies (Supplementary Table S1). Among the 136 cohorts, 31 reported on outcomes after plaster cast immobilization , 37 on K-wire fixation [5,18,21,41,42,45,47,, 41 on volar plate fixation [4-6, 54-56, 60, 61, 72, 74, 77-107], 16 on external fixation [6,30,34,36,53,[108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118], and 11 on intramedullary fixation [4,6,43,81,92,96,[119][120][121][122][123]. Most of the included studies were of low or medium quality, 40% (N = 44) and 50% (N = 55), respectively.…”