[Conservative treatment of finger fractures during growth period (author's transl)]

Abstract

The subject dealt with is the prognosis of residual axis deviations following finger fractures in the growing phase. By means of individual examples it is shown that the axis deviation in the frontal plane does not undergo any correction during further growth, whereas the axis deviation in the movement plane - the sagittal plane - can still be completely corrected even in cases of premature joins. Thus the limits of conservative treatment are shown: fractures with axis derivation in the sagittal pland can in most instances be treated conservatively. Fractures with axis deviation in the frontal plane, on the other hand, are better treated operatively, if up to consolidation there is no certainty of stabilizing the correction of this fault by the conservative method.