Abstract: Background: Fracture of the distal end of radius is one of the more common fractures encountered in the Orthopaedic practice. As longevity of the population increases and as accidents also increase, the incidence of this fracture is expected to increase. Achievement of good realignment of the fracture is essential from a functional and cosmetic point of view. The modalities for treatment of these fractures are varied and much confusion is present as regards appropriate treatment of various fracture types. A cost effective method of treatment is closed reduction and percutaneous pinning with K-wires. This study was conducted to analyze the outcome of Distal Radial Fractures treated with closed reduction and percutaneous pinning.
Methods: The present study was a prospective study of 60 cases of Distal Radius Fractures admitted to Bokaro General Hospital between the study period of November 2015 to October 2017. Cases were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria i.e., patients with distal radius fractures above the age of 18yrs and presenting within two weeks of injury. Medically unfit patients or those not willing for surgery or who presented with open fractures were excluded from the study.
Results: In our series of 60 cases there were 30 males and 30 females, with a maximum age of 72yrs, minimum age of 19yrs and an average age of 45 years. There was a no predominance of the side of the fracture. At the final follow up assessment with ‘The Functional Assessment by The Gartland and Werley Criteria’ 36 patients (72%) achieved ‘Excellent’ result, 11 patients (22%) achieved ‘Good’ result, 2 patients (4%) achieved ‘fair’ result and 1 patient (2%) achieved ‘poor’ result. Overall, 94% of the patients achieved an excellent or good result. On anatomical evaluation using ‘Sarmiento’s Criteria’ 90% of patients achieved a excellent or good result, while 10% achieved only a fair result.
Conclusion: Closed reduction and percutaneous pinning for distal radius fractures have shown to achieve good anatomical and functional outcome. The complications arising from the procedure were within acceptable limits. Further studies are required to assess its efficacy in various other fracture types.
