EXTERNAL FIXATOR WITH PERCUTANEOUS PINNING FOR INTRA-ARTICULAR FRACTURES OF DISTAL RADIUS
Abo-Bakr Zein Said; Walid Reda Awadallah; Haytham Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Moneim*
Department of Orthopaedic surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University
Department of Orthopaedic surgery, Fayoum University*.
Different treatment modalities may result in suboptimal outcome in many cases of comminuted, displaced intraarticular fractures of the distal radius. It can restore the extra-articular parameters and maintain the reduced position but it may not achieve anatomical reduction of the joint surfaces, especially in fractures involving the distal radioulnar joint. In this study we managed 15 patients who sustained intra-articular fracture of distal radius with external fixator and percutaneous pinning. The patients age ranged fom 20 to 55 years with a mean 37.5 years, with 9 males and 6 females and with the dominant hand affected in 9 cases. Five cases were Frykman type III, three cases were type IV, five cases were type VII and two cases were type VIII. We achieved satisfactory functional and radiological outcome. However, one case developed postoperative superficial radial nerve injury and the proper reduction of another case could not be mentained. Although the complications of this fracture and its management are not uncommon and can be potentially serious in nature, we believe that it seems to be less with the technique used in this study especially the loss of the reduction and the finger stiffness.
June 2012