Radius Fracture (distal radius fracture)

One of the most common reasons for consultation by a specialist in hand surgery is a broken wrist. The most common cause for these injuries is falls, although there may be much less common causes such as tumors involving the bones.

The wrist fractures are often dismissed by doctors who are not very familiar or who treat them only on an occasional basis, and although the medical literature favors NON-surgical treatment in general, there are several elements to consider when deciding the best treatment option since both immobilization and surgery have their “pros and cons”.

Among the factors that must be considered is the type of fracture. When the shape is affected and is incompatible with the function, it is necessary to restore it and consider a means to keep it fixed until the bone “sticks”; this may require from a mold or glove with fiberglass (like most of Colles factures) to surgical treatment

Other elements to consider are age, daily activity, the presence or not of other diseases, the condition of the dominant hand, etc. Perhaps one of the most important considerations is the patient’s financial capacity. The development of technology and fixation materials have improved the outcome of these procedures, but have also dramatically increased costs, although access to these levels of care is sometimes of utmost importance. In most cases it is not essential, and excellent results can be obtained at lower costs with proper planning.

Lastly, it is important to carefully assess the cost benefit of the treatment because, although surgical treatment may appear to be a greater expense immediately, sometimes “the remedy is worse than the disease” since immobilization can lead to more prolonged incapacity for work, as well as the recovery time of the normal function of the hand, which ends up affecting the economy more indirectly. So, the careful evaluation and advice of the hand surgery specialist can be cheaper and give you a better prognosis.