Therapeutic analysis of metacarpal and phalanges fractures fixed by two methods

Objective To compare the clinical results of metacarpal and phalanges fractures which were fixed with K-wires and Titanium mini-plate respectively.Methods 42 cases with 45 metacarpal or phalanges fractures were fixed by K-wires and were followed up for 8.4 months on average(range 1.5-12 months).28 cases with 36 metacarpal or phalanges fractures were treated with Titanium mini-plates.Following-up for this group was 9.2 months on average(range 2-12 months).Bone healing time and postoperative complications were recorded.Functions of metacarpal-phalanges inter-phalanges joints were evaluated using TAFS scales.Results According to TAFS scale,excellent and good rate of 68.9% was achieved in cases fixed with K-wires,while in cases treated with Titanium mini-plates the excellent and good rate were 80.6%.The differences between them were statistically significant(P 0.05).Among the 33 open fractures of the K-wire group,5 had infections.There were 26 open fractures of the Titanium mini-plate group,3 of them had infection postoperatively.All the fractures healed.The average duration of the bone union was 8.1 weeks for the cases fixed with Titanium mini-plate and 7.8 weeks for those fixed with K-wires.Conclusion According to comparison of the joint function and postoperative infection between the two groups,fixation by Titanium mini-plates are more favorable in treating hand fractures than by using K-wires.But the duration of bone healing of the cases fixed with K-wire is short than the former.