Abstract
We evaluated the clinical results of treatment for distal radius fracture (AO classification C3) with a volar locking plate. Twenty-seven patients (10 men and 17 women, mean age 61.4 years) were treated with a volar locking plate between October 2008 and October 2011. The mean follow-up period was 11.2 months. We used a SmartLock in 15 cases, VariAx in 7 cases, VA-TCP in 4 cases, and AcuLock in one case. K-wire additional fixation was undertaken in 2 cases, and artificial bone grafting in 6. An external fixator was used temporarily and eliminated after internal fixation in 7 cases.
All cases showed good bone union. The clinical evaluation according to the Mayo wrist score was excellent in 4, good in 20, and satisfactory in 3. All the satisfactory cases had resulted from high-energy trauma, traffic accidents, or falls. These cases lost 5-12 degrees of radial inclination and 4-20 degrees of volar tilt.
We consider that volar locking plate fixation might be a good method for C3, although in some cases of high-energy trauma, the clinical results tend to be less favorable.
