What's New in Hand Surgery.

Abstract

It is my privilege to provide an overview of some of the exciting developments that have taken place within the field of hand surgery in the past year. Before doing so, it would be remiss of me to not take this opportunity to sincerely thank Peter Amadio, MD, for his years of service in providing us with excellent “What’s New in Hand Surgery” Specialty Update articles. This review outlines some of the papers and publications that were presented at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), and the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS) as well as scientific articles published within the literature. The management of distal radial fractures continues to be an area of much debate. In the past year, several prospective randomized studies were performed to determine the optimal treatment. Roh et al.1 conducted a prospective randomized study comparing volar-plate with external fixation in the management of seventy-four intra-articular AO type C2 and C3 distal radial fractures. Range of motion, grip strength, and Michigan Hand Questionnaire (MHQ) scores were greater in the volar-plate group at three months but were similar between both cohorts at twelve months. Radiographic parameters, including volar tilt and radial inclination, were similar between the treatment groups, with those treated with a volar plate having improved radial height. Costa et al.2 reported on 461 adult patients with acute dorsally displaced distal radial fractures that were amenable to closed reduction. Patients were prospectively randomized to either percutaneous Kirschner-wire fixation or locking-plate fixation performed by 244 surgeons within eighteen centers across the United Kingdom. The primary outcome measure was Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) scores. At three, six, and twelve months of follow-up, there were no clinically significant differences in PRWE scores or …