Objectives: This study compared the clinical and radiological outcomes of two different methods for the treatment of distal radial intra-articular fractures. Patients and Methods: Forty-six patients with distal radius intra-arti-cular fractures were divided into two groups. Group I included 24 patients with type C fracture treated by external fixator augmented by percutaneous K-wires. Group II included 22 patients with type C fracture treated by volar locked distal radial plate augmented by K-wires. Two patients had complex injuries necessitating double plating (sandwich). All patients were evaluated clinically by Mayo Wrist Score and radiologically by Sarmiento’s radiological score. Results: Both groups reported good personal satisfaction according to Mayo Wrist Score, and the results were not statistically different between the two groups. In Group I, 19 patients (79.2%) had excellent radiological outcome and five patients (20.9%) had good radiological outcome according to Sarmiento’s radiological score. In Group II, 20 patients (90.9%) had excellent outcome, and two (9.1%) had good radiological outcome;there was no or insignificant deformity. Conclusions: Complex distal radial fractures can be treated either by external fixation (ligamentotaxis) or by locked pre-contoured plating. The clinical outcome of plating and external fixator in our study did not show any statistically significant difference. The radiological outcome had no correlation with the clinical outcome.
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