title: Ligamentotaxis for comminuted fracture of capitate: a case report.
abstract: We present the technical report for treatment of comminuted fracture of the capitate with ligamentotaxis. The base of third metacarpal was found to be fractured with comminution of the capitate. The decrease in carpal height index and comminution of the third metacarpal base lead to dilemma between conservative treatment and surgical management of this particular injury. The surgical management was chosen to maintain the carpal height index of the wrist to prevent the late degenerative changes.The patient was applied with external fixator in distraction mode expanning the wrist joint for six weeks, and the wrist was mobilised after removal of the fixator. It is shown that the external fixator in distraction mode expanning the wrist joint is a good alternative method for treatment of capitate fracture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Mohammed Tahir
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.forename: Chander Shekhar
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Laxman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rijal
mesh_terms: D002348:Carpal Bones; D016267:External Fixators; D005592:Fracture Fixation; D018460:Fractures, Comminuted / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D050279:Metacarpal Bones; D014955:Wrist Joint