Tangential views of the articular surface of the distal radius—aid to open reduction and internal fixation of fractures

Abstract

Open reduction and internal fixation of comminuted, displaced intra-articular or potentially unstable fractures of the distal radius with plate and screws has increasingly become a favoured treatment. Intra-operative assessment of fixation with the help of an image intensifier has always been difficult because of the anatomy of the distal radius. Imaging of the implants placed as distal as possible to achieve satisfactory fixation often shows the screws to be penetrating the joint. We describe two new radiographic views of the wrist joint, which we used intra-operatively in ten patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation of distal radius fractures. Screws were thought to have been penetrating the joint in the standard lateral views of all of them and in the standard antero-posterior views of eight of them. However, no screw was seen penetrating the joint in these new views. It was hence possible to place the plate distal enough to enable the screws to engage the sub-chondral bone. We recommend the use of these views in the open reduction and internal fixation of distal radius fractures.