A comparative study on Kirschner wire and mini plate fixation in treatment of metacarpal and phalangeal fractures

Objective To explore the effect of treatment of metacarpal and phalangeal fractures with Kirschner wire(control group) and mini-plate fixation(trial group).Methods Twenty three patients(26 localities) with metacarpal and phalangeal fractures in control group were followed-up for more than 1 year;and 25 patients(28 localities) with metacarpal and phalangeal fractures in trial group were followed-up for 3 months to 1 year(with average of 5.1 months).Their therapeutic effects were evaluated with TAFS scoring criteria.Results The rate of excellence and good in therapeutic effect(85.7%) was higher than that(76.9%) of control group(χ2=10.121,P0.05).Seventeen patients with open fractures in trial group got secondary infection in 2 localities after operation,and 19 patients with open fractures in control group got secondary infection in 3 localities after operation.The duration for healing of fractures in trial group was 3.5~6.5 weeks with an average of 5 weeks.The duration for healing of fractures in control group was 6.4~9.6 weeks with an average of 7.7 weeks.The healing effect for fractures in 2 localities was not ideal.Conclusion The efficacy,infection rate and recovery time for treatment of metacarpal and phalangeal fractures with mini plate fixation was much better than those by internal fixation with Kirschner wire.