A comparative study of volar locking plate versus external fixation for displaced intra articular distal end radius fractures: A prospective study

Abstract

Background: Distal radius fracture is more common accounting for 1/6th of the all fractures. With this background, this study was carried out to compare the functional outcome of volar locking plate and external fixator to the displaced intra-articular distal end radius fractures using Modified Mayo Wrist Score (MMWS). Materials and methods: This study included those patients with distal radius fracture attending the Orthopaedic clinic at SIMS, during July 2018 till December 2018. Patients were randomised based on - even and odd day of the week. This included two set of group with twenty patients in each group- one with volar locking plating and other with external fixation. Patients were followed up at 6 months and 1 year. At each follow up, the pain and range of movements were assessed by MMWS score which was entered in Microsoft excel and analysed in SPSS 20. Results: At the end of one year after surgery, we observed that external fixation technique was superior for treating displaced intra-articular comminuted distal end radius fractures than volar locking plate. Conclusion: External fixator showed more advantageous than volar locking plates after 1year of follow up.