Abstract

Distal radius fractures crush the mechanical foundation of the man’s most elegant tool, the hand. No other fracture has a greater potential to devastate hand function, and no other metaphysis of bone is embraced by more soft tissues. The objective of the study was to assess functional outcome of fractures of lower end radius treated with surgical management with locked compression plate (LCP) followed by early mobilization of wrist joint. Methods: The present study was a prospective observational study conducted in BIRRD Trust Hospital, Tirupati for one year. This study included 20 patients who sustained fractures of lower end radius. Information such as sex, age, details of injury, duration, and progression were obtained through an interview. Final outcome was evaluated by QUICK DASH evaluation questionnaire. Results: 65% of the patients were males and 35% were females. Most of the patients were aged between 18 to 30 years (35%). In this study during third follow-up, most of the patients had QUICK DASH scores of 25 or less (65%). Excellent outcome was noted in 13 patients. Of these, 9 (69.23%) patients reported fall on their outstretched hand as mechanism of injury compared to 4 (30.77%) patient who had road traffic accident. Conclusions: Good to excellent results in the majority of patients based on QUICK Dash functional outcome evaluation after locking plate fixation of the lower end distal radius with lower rate of complications. Hence locking plate fixation may be recommended for distal radius fractures requiring operative intervention with early mobilization of wrist joint.

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