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Hong, Lee, Kim, Back, and Lee: Effect of Different Splints on Displacement after Closed Reduction of the Distal Radius Fractures: A Comparison of Short Arm Double Splint and Sugar-Tong Splint
Original Article

J Korean Soc Surg Hand 2015;20(3):104-109.

Published online: 11 September 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12790/jkssh.2015.20.3.104

Effect of Different Splints on Displacement after Closed Reduction of the Distal Radius Fractures: A Comparison of Short Arm Double Splint and Sugar-Tong Splint

Se Hyuck Hong1, Jae Hoon Lee1, Young Joon Kim2, Jong Hun Back2, Jung Suck Lee1

1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Korea

2Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Kyung Hee Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence to: Jae Hoon Lee Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, 892 Dongnam-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul 05278, Korea TEL: +82-2-440-6153 FAX: +82-2-440-7497 E-mail: ljhos69@naver.com

Received 17 June 201530 July 201515 August 2015       Accepted 16 August 2015

Copyright © 2015 Korean Ophthalmological Society

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose:

This study was to compare short arm double splint allowing forearm rotation with sugar tong splint in terms of loss of reduction and incidence of shoulder stiffness after closed reduction of the distal radius factures.

Methods:

From June 2012 to February 2013, we retrospectively reviewed patients with distal radius fractures applied short arm double splint or sugar tong splint after closed reduction. Patients with more than 18 years old, acceptable reduction in X-ray and followed up at least 4 weeks were enrolled. Short arm double splint (SD) group was applied in 47 cases and sugar tong splint (ST) group was 34 cases. Gender, age and fracture types were not significantly different between two groups. The radiographic parameters were measured for palmar tilt, articular step-off, radial length, radial inclination, ulnar variance. The incidence and time of the reduction loss were also evaluated. In functional outcomes, the occurence of ipsilateral shoulder stiffness and the disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) score were evaluated with the medical records or telephone questionnaires at 6 months after initial trauma.

Results:

Loss of reduction was occured 16 cases in SD group (34%) and 10 cases in ST group (29.4%), which did not differ significantly between the groups (p=0.169). The DASH score and shoulder stiffness were not statistically different between two groups.

Conclusion:

There was no significant difference in loss of reduction after closed reduction of distal radius fractures and functional outcomes in both groups.

Keywords: Distal radius fracture, Closed reduction, Short arm double splint, Sugar-tong splint

References

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Fig. 1.
Photography of short arm double splint.
jkssh-20-104f1.tif
Table 1.
Definition of ‘displacement’ or ‘reduction loss’
Dorsal tilt >10°
Articular step-off >2 mm
Radial length <7 mm
Radial inclination <15°
Table 2.
Demographics
Characteristic SD group (47) ST group (34) p-value
Female 39 (83.0) 24 (70.6) 0.178
Mean age (yr) 64.0 (±12.3) 57.5 (±14.5) 0.437
Radial inclination (°) 18.0 (±6.0) 19.0 (±5.4) 0.448
Radial length (mm) 6.9 (±3.2) 8.7 (±3.0) 0.643
Ulnar variance (mm) 2.6 (±2.8) 3.1 (±3.2) 0.345
Palmar tilt (°) -11.9 (±13.3) -9.4 (±16.1) 0.350
Step-off (mm) 0.04 (±0.2) 0.12 (±0.5) 0.076

SD, short arm double splint; ST, sugar-tong splint.

Table 3.
Association for Osteosynthesis/Association for the Study of Internal Fixation classification
SD group (47)
 ST group (34)
N Reduction loss, n (%) N Reduction loss, n (%)
A1 0 10 (28.6) 0 4 (16.0)
A2 15 19
A3 20 6
Total 35 25
B1 2 4 (44.4) 2 4 (80.0)
B2 5 3
B3 2 0
Total 9 5
C1 2 2 (66.7) 2 2 (50.0)
C2 1 2
C3 0 0
Total 3 4

SD, short arm double splint; ST, sugar-tong splint.

Table 4.
Time of reduction loss
Variable Reduction loss, n (%) PT 1 wk PT 2 wk PT 3 wk PT 4 wk
SD group (47) 16 (34.0) 5 3 4 4
ST group (34) 10 (29.4) 5 2 1 2
p-value 0.169 - - -

PT, post-trauma; SD, short arm double splint; ST, sugar-tong splint.

Table 5.
Functional assessment
Variable SD group ST group p-value
DASH score 35.5±4.3 36.2±6.0 0.563
Shoulder pain/stiffness 8 (17) 4 (14.8) 0.753

Values are presented as mean±standard deviation or number (%).

SD, short arm double splint; ST, sugar-tong splint; DASH, disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand.

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