Distal Pin Research Articles

External fixation of colles' fractures : Jenkins N. H., Jones D. G., Johnson S. R. et al. (1987) External fixation of Colles' fractures. J. Bone Joint Surg.69B, 207

In a prospective, controlled study 58 patients aged under 60 years with Colles’ fractures were treated either by a forearm plaster or by the application of an external fixator. In 94% of those treated by a fixator it was possible to insert the distal pins of the frame into the fracture fragment, the fixation obtained being sufficient to forgo additional splintage. The external fixator proved more effective at holding the manipulated position, and the radiological loss of position during fracture union was minimal compared with that seen in patients treated in plaster.

Complications of Ender-pin fixation in basicervical, intertrochanteric, and subtrochanteric fractures of the hip.

Two hundred patients with a basicervical, intertrochanteric, or subtrochanteric fracture were treated by Ender-pin fixation during a three-year period. Their median age was 73.5 years and there was a 10 per cent mortality rate. Early partial weight-bearing with some external support was allowed for most patients. Minimum shortening and one non-union occurred. However, there was a substantial incidence of complications. The fixation failed in all basicervical fractures. Distal pin migration of more than two centimeters occurred in 50 per cent of the unstable intertrochanteric fractures. Seventy-six per cent of the forty-two patients who were personally examined at follow-up had pain in the knee and 36 per cent had external malrotation. The incidence of pin migration increased in the more unstable fractures.