title: Is intramedullary nailing better than the use of volar locking plates for fractures of the distal radius? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
abstract: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared the use of intramedullary nails and volar locking plates in distal radial fractures. PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Collaboration Central database were used to find randomized controlled trials that met the eligibility criteria. Two reviewers screened the studies, extracted the data, evaluated the methodological quality and analysed the data with RevMan 5.1 software. No statistically significant differences were detected in the disability of the arm, shoulder and hand and the Gartland and Werley scores, radiographic parameters, wrist range of motion, grip strength, total complication rate and incidence of tendon rupture between the two groups. However, carpal tunnel syndrome occurred less often after intramedullary nailing. The two fixation methods achieved equal clinical, functional and radiological outcomes for primary fixation of the indicated types of distal radial fractures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapeutic/LevelI.
authors: Department of Orthopaedics Institute, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Wang
authors: Health Management Center, Beichen Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Orthopaedics Institute, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ma
authors: Department of Orthopaedics Institute, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Orthopaedics Institute, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Jia
authors: Department of Orthopaedics Institute, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China wangjie@tijmu.edu.cn.
authors: X
authors: X
authors: Ma
mesh_terms: D001858:Bone Nails; D001860:Bone Plates; D005594:Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011885:Radius Fractures / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Distal radial fracture; intramedullary nail; meta-analysis; volar locking plate