Fifth metacarpal neck fracture fixation: antegrade intramedullary pinning with two K-wires or percutaneous retrograde crossed pinning

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to compare clinical and radiological outcomes in patients with displaced fifth metacarpal neck fractures after treatment with antegrade intramedullary pinning with two K-wires or percutaneous retrograde crossed pinning. Material Method: While seventeen patients were treated with antegrade intramedullary pinning (Group ), 14 were treated with percutaneous retrograde crossed pinning (Group 2). Clinical and radiological outcomes included Quick Dash, active range of motion (ROM), VAS, and dorsal angulation loss at weeks four and twelve and in the final follow-up. Results: The findings revealed that the groups had mean ages of 29.41±8.15 years and 27.78±7.42 years, res-pectively. While ROM was better in Group 2 at weeks four and twelve, we could not find a significant difference between the groups by active ROM in the final follow-up. Moreover, Group 1 had a better Dash score in the fourth week and twelth week , but both groups had similar Dash scores in the final follow-up. Finally, the groups had no preoperative and postoperative differences radiologically. Conclusion: The present findings uncovered that treatment of a displaced fifth metacarpal neck fracture by anteg-rade intramedullary pinning yielded a better in the first three months improvement in active ROM and Quick Dash than percutaneous retrograde crossed pinning.