5 years Experience of Hand Fractures in a Private Setup

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Author(s): Muhammad Ahmad

Pages: 22-26 |


Objective:To know the aetiology, features and management of hand fractures presenting in a private setup are discussed. Materials and Methods: The descriptive study was carried out in a private setup from June 2005 to May 2010. Patients of all ages and gender presenting with acute injuries to the hand were included. The patients presenting with amputated digit/s and those undergoing micro-surgical replantation were excluded from the study. The aetiology, site and side of the fractures were noted. All the patients were X-rayed pre-operatively. Various operative modalities were used including Krischner’s wire, screws, microplates, miniplates or dental wires. The treatment was done under local anaesthesia. After reduction, immobilization of fractures site was done for 3 – 4 weeks and any complications observed in the patients were also noted. Results: A total of 67 male having 96 fractures and 43 females having 59 fractures were included in the study. Majority of the patients (70.9%) presented with single fracture followed by two fractures in 19.1% patients. The mean age of the male patients was 33.8 years and 27.4 years in female, Road traffic accident was the leading cause of the hand fractures (36.4%) followed by assault (19.1%). Majority of the patients had fractures of proximal phalanx of the finger (27.7%) more than 95% of the patients. underwent some kind of operative treatment. Percutaneous K-wiring was done in 30.3% patients. In 65.1% of the patients open reduction internal fixation was undertaken. 1.8% of the patients developed infection 8.1% of the patients had joint stiffness and 4.5% had limited joint movements. Conclusion: Open reduction internal fixation gave the excellent results. It gave an added advantage of early mobilization of hand thereby reducing the stiffness and morbidity.