Usefulness of Intraoperative Ultrasound in a Volar Plate Distal Radius Fixation

Overview

Distal radius fracture is a common injury with a high percentage of surgical treatment. In the last decades, volar plate fixation has been the treatment of choice. However, complication rates range between 6% and 50% according to the different study groups. One of the main complications is due to errors in screw measurement given the particular anatomy of the distal radius. Numerous views in addition to the standard ones have been described in order to increase the specificity and sensitivity in the detection of poorly implanted screws. In the absence of a radiological projection superior to another, we believe that the use of intraoperative ultrasound can provide a non-invasive and quick revision element that avoids scope time for both: the patient and the surgical team.

Patients will be recruited in a sequential mode after signing the usual informed consent (IC) as well as the consent to accept participation in the study. The intervention will be carried out as usual and, once the radiological checks have been carried out, an ultrasound of the wrist extensor compartments will be performed. Compartments will be studied individually in order to detect invasion of the dorsal cortex by the screws. All surgeries will be performed only by members of the upper limb trauma team or hand surgery unit. Postoperative follow-up will be the standard one prior to the present study.

Conditions

Interventions