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. 2015 Oct 26;3(10):e549.
doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000000521. eCollection 2015 Oct.

Hardware Location and Clinical Outcome in Ulna Shortening Osteotomy

Kai Megerle  1 , Susanne Hellmich  1 , Günter Germann  1 , Michael Sauerbier  1
Affiliations

Hardware Location and Clinical Outcome in Ulna Shortening Osteotomy

Kai Megerle et al. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. .

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of plate location during ulna shortening osteotomy on the incidence of hardware irritation and clinical outcome.

Methods: Forty patients (17 women, 23 men; mean age, 47 years) who underwent a shortening osteotomy of the ulna due to idiopathic ulna impaction syndrome were examined after a mean of 36 months. All complications and secondary procedures were extracted from the patients' records.

Results: The rate of hardware removal was higher in patients who had a dorsal placement of the plate in comparison with ulnar or palmar placements, although this difference was not statistically significant. Apart from hardware irritation, there were 4 nonunions, 1 secondary osteoarthritis of the distal radioulnar joint, and 1 case of chronic irritation of the dorsal branch of the ulnar nerve, which required secondary surgery. The incidence of secondary surgery other than hardware removal was not significantly related to the original location of the plate.

Conclusions: Secondary surgery after ulnar shortening osteotomy is common. However, we found no difference in clinical outcomes based on plate location.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Technische Universität München within the funding programme Open Access Publishing. A portion of the Article Processing Charge was paid for by PRS Global Open at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. The remainder of the Article Processing Charge was paid for by the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Determination of plate location: schematic cross-section of the forearm. Osteotomy plate placements were classified as dorsal, ulnar, and palmar, according to their appearance on PA and lateral radiographs of the wrist. d indicates dorsal; p, palmar; R, radius; U, ulna.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Radiographic examples (lateral views) for palmar (A), ulnar (B), and dorsal (C) placements of hardware.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Hardware removal in relation to location. Stacks indicate the number of patients with and without removal of the osteotomy plate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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