A comparison of two kinds of percutaneous minimally invasive plate fixation sparing pronator quadratus for treatment of distal radius fractures / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the conventional percutaneous minimally invasive plate fixation sparing pronator quadratus versus the 3-point positioning percutaneous minimally invasive palmar locking plate fixation sparing pronator quadratus for distal radial fractures.Methods:Between January 2015 and December 2017, 50 patients with distal radius fracture were treated surgically at Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Hospital of Fuzhou by percutaneous minimally invasive plate fixation sparing pronator quadratus. They were 24 males and 26 females, aged from 21 to 71 years. Conventional percutaneous minimally invasive plate fixation was conducted for 25 patients and 3-point positioning minimally invasive plate fixation for the other 25 patients. The 2 groups were compared in terms of fluoroscopic adjustments of the plate under the pronator quadratus, fracture healing time, visual analogue scale (VAS) on days 1, 3 and 7 postoperation, and wrist flexion and extension, forearm rotation and upper limb function by Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand(DASH) scores and Gartland-Werley scores at 3 months postoperation.Results:There was no significant difference in the general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability between groups ( P>0.05). The fluoroscopic adjustments of the plate under the pronator quadratus for the conventional group (3.4±0.5) were significantly more than for the 3-point positioning group (1.1±0.3) ( P<0.05). The VAS scores on days 1, 3 and 7 postoperation for the conventional group were significantly higher than for the 3-point positioning group ( P<0.05). At 3 months postoperation, the wrist pronation was respectively 76.6°±1.9° and 82.3°±2.0°, and the Gartland-Werley scores were respectively 3.4±0.5 and 1.9±0.2 for the conventional and 3-point positioning groups, showing significant differences between the 2 groups ( P< 0.05). Conclusions:In the treatment of distal radial fractures, compared with conventional percutaneous minimally invasive plate fixation, the 3-point positioning minimally invasive plate fixation sparing pronator quadratus may minimize the damage to the pronator quadratus, be more minimally invasive, and lead to less early postoperative pain and faster functional recovery.