High rate of complications following volar plating of distal radius fractures

Abstract

Introduction: Fracture of the distal radius (DRF) is one of the most common fractures treated by orthopaedic surgeons. The most common operative treatments of these fractures are open reduction and internal fixation. The incidents and types of complications associated with the use of these operations have not been studied in detail.

Material and methods: We performed a retrospective study documenting types of complications and their occurrence in a group of patients who received open reduction and internal fixation. Our definition of a complication was a case in which the patient had one or more complications which required an operation, or suffered from complex regional pain syndrome, or skin healing problems lasting more than four weeks from the operation.

Results: A total of 165 patients were included. In all, 39 complications in 30 wrists were registered: i.e. 18% had a minimum of one complication.

Conclusion: Our finding that 18% suffer from a serious complication when treated using a volar locking plate must be taken into consideration when surgeons choose between conservative or operative treatment for DRF treatment. A few other studies have looked at the incidents of complications and have reported similar results.

Funding: not relevant.

Trial registration: not relevant.