Twenty-two displaced metacarpal shaft fractures in 19 patients were stabili
zed with multiple intramedullary K-wires. These were inserted percutaneousl
y through a small window in the base of the metacarpal and were buried in t
he bone. No external splintage was routinely used postoperatively and all p
atients were encouraged to mobilize their fingers immediately: formal physi
otherapy was not usually required.
All the fractures that we mere able to follow-up united, but the K-wires be
nt at the fracture site in two instances, producing 20 degrees angular defo
rmities. The buried K-wires had to be removed in one instance as a result o
f protrusion into the carpometacarpal joint.