What do we know about the treatment of distal radius fractures with external fixators after 30 years. Experience and a brief bibliographic review

Abstract

Introduction. Fractures of the distal end of the radius are a great subject of controversy due to their great variability in radiological patterns and patient type. The clinical radiological disagreement remains unresolved which is the best method. We decided to develop our experience with external fixation and conduct a brief review on the subject. Aim. A literature search was conducted by two of the most comprehensive and up-todate health search engines on everything related to fractures of the distal end of the radius treated with external fixators in the last 30 years. Materials and methods. Asearch was carried out with the acronym “fracture distal radius with external fixator” in MEDLINE and ProQuest Health & Medical Complete, where a total of 1367 articles were obtained, of which 243 articles were selected. Results and conclusions. The data we obtained were very promising regarding the treatment of radius fractures with external fixators, which is an undisputed method in some types of fractures, promoting respect for soft tissues and biological treatment of fractures without forgetting the rapid rehabilitation that is achieved with the external fixator