Predictives of Poor Outcomes after Volar Plating an Unstable Distal Radius Fracture; A Retrospective Clinical Analysis

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the functional and radiological outcomes and complications after an unstable distal radius fracture that was treated with a volar locked plate in adults and to find out the predictive factors of poor outcomes. Patients and Method: 91 patients (55 male / 36 female) that were operated for distal radius fractures with a volar locked plate between May 2006 and August 2016 were included in this retrospective study. All fractures were classified by AO classification system. Mayo Wrist score and Quick DASH-T measure were used to quantify the functional and Steawart scores for radiological outcomes. Varying factors were evaluated for predicting the poor radiological and functional outcomes. Results: Mean age of the patients was 46.9 years (23-72 min-max) and mean follow-up was 29.6 months (12-39 min-max) in this study. Mean union time was 7.3 weeks (6-11 min-max) for all patients. Mean Quick DASH-T score was 7.1 (0-65.9) and mean Mayo Wrist score was 85.8 (55-100) at the follow-up. There were 10 patients with various complications as; 8 patients had wound infections and 2 patients had hypertrophic scars. The strongest predictive factors of poor outcomes were the type of fracture and wound complications. Conclusion: Volar locked plates are useful for treatment of displaced unstable distal radius fractures with acceptable complication rate and any attempt should be considered to avoid wound complications.