[Relative value of internal fixation with K-wires in the treatment of fractures of the distal radius. Study in patients affected by multiple morbidities or dementia].

The age distribution of patients with distal radius fractures shows a clear predominance of patients over 60. In such patients fractures must be treated with due consideration for the general condition, accompanying illnesses, such as osteoporosis, and the often lesser ambitions concerning the function of the wrist joint. Three cases of patients over 70 years of age are presented: two of these patients were suffering from dementia and one, from multiple morbidities and poor general condition: In all three, severe osteitis of the distal radius developed after K-wire pinning to treat distal radius fractures. In two cases, the treatment culminated in radiocarpal arthrodesis, while in the third the definitive treatment was resection of the metaphysis of the distal radius. The presented cases indicate that in distal radius fracture patients who are affected by dementia or have a poor general condition K-wire pinning with protruding K-wires should not be regarded as the therapy of first choice.