Screw or mini-plate fixation in fractures of the first metacarpal. Experience with thirty-nine cases.

Re-establishing normal osteoarticular anatomy, and early mobilization are the principal elements in the successful treatment of fractures of the base of the first metacarpal. To achieve these goals in thirty-nine fractures rigid fixation was obtained by screw alone, or by a mini-plate. Seven Bennett's fractures have been treated by screw fixation when the size of the fragment has made it possible. Extra-articular fractures have been treated, either by screw alone, in oblique fractures (7 cases). Or by mini-plate, T or L shaped, in transverse fractures (23 cases). The use of these techniques have been extended, to comminuted fractures but is not used in Bennett's fractures when the fragment is too small to allow the screw to be anchored in it without its being shattered.