A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF 924 DIGITAL FRACTURES OF THE HAND

A prospective study of 1129 patients with 1358 digital fractures of th e hand was carried oat between March 1984 and March 1994; of these, 92 4 fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. Functionally stable fractures with acceptable alignment were managed with immediate active mobilizat ion. Unstable fractures, or fractures with unacceptable alignment, wer e openly reduced and fixed internally so that active mobilization coul d begin immediately after operation. The function results using variou s systems of evaluation were excellent or good in over 90 per cent of the fractured thumbs, and excellent or goad in 58.7 per cent to 76.5 p er cent of the Fingers. Patients who did not require surgery did much better than those in the operated group. Comminuted, open and multiple fractures proved to be of poor prognostic value. However rigid fixati on was statistically significant in influencing the outcome. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.