Treatment of extra-articular distal radial malunion with percutaneous osteotomy and an intramedullary implant.

PURPOSE: Distal radius malunion is often seen after distal radius fracture. We performed a less invasive but secure corrective surgery using an intramedullary implant combined with percutaneous osteotomy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of this surgical technique.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Three patients with malunion of a distal radius fracture were included. We assessed the wrist joint disability scores pre-operatively and at the final follow-up an average of 21 months after surgery. We also performed radiological assessments of volar tilt, radial inclination, and ulnar variance.

RESULTS

All three patients achieved excellent clinical results with an average joint disability score of 93.3 at the final follow-up. The radiological parameters improved without any post-operative correction loss.

DISCUSSION: Intramedullary implant combined with percutaneous osteotomy provides sufficient stability after correction of distal radius malunion and avoids the complications associated with the use of a volar plate.