ABSTRACT
Sixty-two elderly patients with distal radius fractures after fixation with small splints were enrolled in the study from January to December 2014.Patients were randomly divided into intervention and control groups with 31 cases in each group.Patients in both groups received comprehensive prevention for hand swelling, those in intervention group were given additional external administration of sodium aescinate gel (SAG), 1 g, t.i.d for 7 d.Swelling score and visual analogue scale (VAS) were documented before and 3, 7 d after intervention.At the time of fracture healing, the wrist functions, including motions of flexion-extension, motions of radial-ulnar and motions of pronation-supination were examined.At 3 and 7 d after intervention, the swelling score(1.22 ±0.69 vs.1.65 ±0.75 and 0.64 ±0.42 vs.0.96 ±0.71) and VAS(1.96 ±1.27 vs.2.85 ±1.40 and 1.11 ±0.65 vs.1.86 ±1.09)of intervention group were lower than those of control group (all P<0.05).At the time of fracture healing, the wrist motions of flexion-extension [(83.7 ±8.6) vs.(77.6 ±7.1)%], motions of radial-ulnar [(83.0 ±7.6) vs.(78.2 ±8.7)%] and motions of pronation-supination [(81.0 ±7.0) vs.(76.2 ±7.5)%] of intervention group were higher than those of control group ( P <0.05 ) .The results indicate that SAG can reduce swelling, relief pain and promote the recovery of wrist function in elderly patients with distal radius fractures.