Corrective osteotomy of the distal radius after fracture to restore the function of wrist joint, forearm, and hand.

Eighty-two patients suffering from a severe deformity of the distal radius were operated on in the course of the past 7 years. The corrective osteotomy was done by implanting a corticocancellous bone graft to restore the correct angle of the joint surface and the correct length of the radius. In addition to this, a buttress T-plate was used, which could be removed 6 months later. In 80% of the cases the results with regard to the function of the patients' hands were good. The operative technique is standardized. It is possible to perform this kind of operation on patients of any age, and the procedure can check Sudeck's atrophy. When the obvious disability of the forearm is corrected the mobility of the wrist joint is simultaneously improved.