Abstract: Introduction: Fracture of both bones forearm in adults occupy a large field of modern traumatology. Maintenance of radial bow, regaining length, good apposition and alignment without malrotation is essential to restore good range of motion of forearm.
Aim: to compare functional and radiographic results of plate osteosynthesis to IM nailing in treatment of diaphyseal forearm fracture in adults.
Method: A prospective study comprising of 30 patients. 15 patients treated with open reduction and internal fixation using 3.5 mm DCP and 15 patients by IM nailing using 316L SS Talwarkar square nailing by closed or mini open reduction.
Result: mean age of patients was 36.4 years (range 20 to 58 years), most fractures were of type 22A3 as per AO/OTA classification. Average operative time was 83 minutes and 64 minutes in plating and nailing respectively. 2 cases of infection each in plating and nailing was seen which were superficial. Mean time of union in plating group was 12.8 weeks (range 10-18 weeks) with union achieved in all cases and DASH score of 14.7(range 4.1-33.3) with excellent functional results in 73.3% cases. In nailing group, 2 cases of non-union was seen (13.3%) with mean time of union 14.6 weeks (range 11-22 weeks) and DASH score of 18.5(range 5-45) with excellent functional results in 53.3% cases.
Conclusion: We conclude that open reduction and internal fixation with dynamic compression plating is gold standard for treating diaphyseal forearm fracture in adults as it provides rigid fixation, restores forearm stability earlier and has negligible complications.
