Arthrodesis of the wrist for post-traumatic disorders.
We retrospectively reviewed the records of eighty-nine consecutive patients (ninety wrists) who had had a total arthrodesis of the wrist for the treatment of a post-traumatic disorder at one center. Fifty-six patients (fifty-seven wrists) had the arthrodesis with plate fixation, and thirty-three patients (thirty-three wrists) had the arthrodesis with a variety of other techniques. The average age of the patients at the time of the arthrodesis was forty-two years, and the dominant wrist was treated in forty-two patients. Fifty-six (98 per cent) of the fifty-seven wrists that had been fixed with a plate had a successful union at an average of 10.3 weeks postoperatively. Twenty-seven (82 per cent) of the thirty-three wrists that had been treated with other methods had a successful union at an average of 12.2 weeks postoperatively. The difference in the rates of union between the wrists fixed with a plate and those treated with alternative techniques was significant (p = 0.009; Fisher exact test). A total of thirty-nine complications were associated with twenty-nine (51 per cent) of the fifty-seven arthrodeses with plate fixation. Sixteen (41 per cent) of the complications (thirteen wrists) resolved with non-operative treatment. Twenty-six (79 per cent) of the thirty-three arthrodeses with alternative methods of fixation were associated with a total of twenty-nine complications. Twenty-three (79 per cent) of those complications (twenty wrists) resolved with non-operative treatment. The difference between the rate of complications associated with the arthrodeses with plate fixation and that associated with the arthrodeses with alternative methods of fixation was significant (p = 0.03; Fisher exact test).
Hastings
H
H
Indiana Hand Center, Indianapolis 46260, USA.
Weiss
A P
AP
Quenzer
D
D
Wiedeman
G P
GP
Hanington
K R
KR
Strickland
J W
JW
D000328:Adult; D001174:Arthrodesis / Q000379:methods*; D001860:Bone Plates; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007085:Ilium / Q000637:transplantation*; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011859:Radiography; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014954:Wrist Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*