Abstract
The authors studied redisplacement of distal radial fracture after conservative treatment in 16 patients who were older than 60 years. The purpose of this study was to determine which primary fixation angle should be used in conservative treatment of distal radial fractures. Saito's classification was used for clinical evaluation. Fourteen of 16 patients were evaluated as “excellent” or “good”, the others as “fair”. In the patients whose primary fixation angle was over 10 degrees in ulnar bending, the progression of ulnar plus variant was less than 1mm 12 weeks after reduction. The progression of volar tilt by more than 10 degrees was found in 4 out of the 5 patients whose primary fixation angle was below 25 degrees in palmar flexion. The findings of the current study indicate a primary fixation angle of the wrist over 10 degrees in ulnar bending and over 25 degrees in palmar flexion may avoid excessive redisplacement of the fracture.
