The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 70, Issue 9 1372-1376, Copyright © 1988 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Refracture of bones of the forearm after the removal of compression plates
PA Deluca, RW Lindsey and PA Ruwe
Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
Of thirty-seven patients who had sixty-two diaphyseal plates removed from
the forearm after fixation of a fracture, seven patients had a refracture,
two of whom refractured both bones of the forearm. Six of the seven
refractures were in patients who initially had had a fracture of both
bones, and all were in patients in whom the original fracture had been
caused by major trauma. The interval from the time of removal of the plate
to refracture ranged from forty-two to 121 days. Only one of the seven
patients who had a refracture had had adequate compression of the original
fracture. The average interval from the time of the original trauma to
internal fixation was two days in six patients who had a refracture and who
originally had had primary plating, compared with 8.5 days in the patients
who did not have a refracture. One of the seven patients who had a
refracture had originally had delayed plating after closed treatment had
failed. In retrospect, radiolucency at the site of the original fracture
was seen in most patients when the plate was removed.
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