Functional And Radiological Outcome Of Colles’ Fracture In Adult Treated By Percutaneous K-Wire Fixation Versus Locking T-Plate

Abstract

Background: Colles’ fracture, a common extra-articular distal radius fracture, frequently occurs in adults following low-energy falls or high-energy trauma. The surgical treatment is still controversial, percutaneous K-wire fixation and locking T-plate fixation being the most common ones. This paper compared the radiological outcome and functional outcome of these two forms of fixation.

Methods: This was a prospective comparative study that was carried out in the Orthopedic Department of Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, from April to September 2025. 60 adult patients (50-80 years aged) who had Colles fractures were recruited and split in half. Group A was subjected to percutaneous K-wire fixation and Group B to locking T-plate fixation. The modified Gartland and Werley score was used to measure functional outcomes at three and six months of the postoperative period. The SPSS version 25 was used to analyze data, and the chi-square tests were employed to evaluate associations with a p-value ≤ 0.05 as the significant one.

Results: The mean age was 41.2±8.6 years in Group A and 44.7±9.2 years in Group B. At three months, 80% of K-wire patients and 63.3% of T-plate patients showed excellent outcomes. By six months, excellent results increased to 90% in the K-wire group and 83.3% in the T-plate group. No significant association was observed between gender, BMI, or diabetes and the final functional outcome (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Both fixation methods produced satisfactory outcomes; however, K-wire fixation demonstrated slightly better early recovery and cost-effectiveness, making it a practical choice in routine clinical settings.