Complications After Distal Radius Fracture Surgery: Results From a Swedish Nationwide Registry Study

Objectives: To evaluate complications after distal radius fracture surgery. Design: Prospective registry study. Setting: Nationwide registry study. Patients: A total of 36,618 patients who underwent surgery because of a distal radius fracture during the period from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2009 were followed from the date of operation until the occurrence of either reoperation, a new distal radius fracture, death, or December 31, 2010, whichever occurred first. Main Outcome Measurement: The occurrence of reoperations after different surgical methods is presented as proportions, incidence rates, and in a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis curve. Types and distributions of complications are presented for pinning, external fixation (EF), and plating, respectively. Results: The incidence of reoperation after fracture surgery using EF, pins, and plating was 100 [95% confidence interval (CI): 93-107], 140 (95% CI: 127-153), and 222 (95% CI: 207-237) per 10,000 person years, respectively. After stratified analysis adjusting for age and gender, the differences remained significant when comparing plating with EF (P = 0.001) and pinning (P = 0.01). Pinning and EF patients displayed an earlier onset of the complications when compared with plated patients. Conclusions: The incidence of reoperation was higher for patients treated with a plate than for patients treated with pins or EF. The timing of the reoperations differed in that pinning and EF patients displayed an earlier onset when compared with plated patients.