Evaluation of Patient-Reported and Clinician-Reported Outcomes of Volar Locking Plate Fixation for Distal Radius Fractures

Abstract

Background: Postoperative evaluation of wrist joint trauma is divided into patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and clinician-reported outcomes (CROs). We investigated the association of the Q-DASH score as the postoperative PROs and the Mayo wrist score as the postoperative CROs with clinical evaluation in patients with distal radius fractures surgically treated using a volar locking plate (VLP). Moreover, whether PROs and CROs are correlated to the clinical evaluation was investigated. Methods: The subjects were 109 patients surgically treated for distal radius fractures at our hospital between June 2013 and May 2017. Forty-one patients were male, 68 patients were female, and the mean age was 61.4 (19–86) years old. The fracture type was AO classification A type in 30 patients (A2: 25, A3: 5), B type in 5 (B2: 1, B3: 4), and C type in 74 (C1: 50, C2: 11, C3: 13). All patients were surgically treated using VLP. The range of motion of the wrist, grip strength the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the Q-DASH score (PROs), and the Mayo wrist score (CROs) were investigated. Each evaluation was compared as the clinical outcome between at 3 months after surgery and the final follow-up. In addition, the correlations of the postoperative PROs and CROs with the clinical evaluation were analyzed. Results: Each evaluation was significantly improved compared with that at 3 months after surgery. There was a significant correlation between PROs and CROs at 3 months after surgery and the final follow-up. However, the range of motion of the wrists was not significantly correlated with PROs or CROs at 3 months after surgery or at the final follow-up. Conclusions: On evaluation after surgery for distal radius fractures, PROs and CROs improved early after surgery (3 months after surgery) before the final follow-up, and an inverse correlation was present between these scores.

Comparison of Conventional Incision and 10 mm Approach for Volar Locking Plates in Dorsal Displaced Distal Radius Fractures

“…However, the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes and the occurrence of complications in the early post-operative period. Moreover, there are reports that clinical scores, such as the Q-DASH score and Mayo wrist score, which were evaluated in this study, show a ceiling effect 3 months after operation, and recovery of the upper limb function sufficient for returning to daily life is also acquired early, at 3 months after surgery [ 19 , 20 ]. Therefore, we considered that 3 months was sufficient for the observation period of this study.…”

Content Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Forgotten Joint Score Questionnaire in Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty

“…However, subjective methods focus on how the patient feels after the surgery. These include clinician-reported outcome tools and patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) [6,7].…”