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The Meniscus Arrow® as a fixation device for the treatment of mallet fractures: results of 50 cases

  • Published:
HAND

Abstract

Background

The treatment of mallet fractures is a controversial and challenging problem. Generally, mallet fractures are treated conservatively except those involving more than one third of the base of the distal phalanx. Many different surgical fixation techniques have been published. This paper describes a new fixation procedure using ultimate bioresorbable meniscal fixation nails (Meniscus Arrows®).

Methods

Mallet fractures in 50 digits of 49 patients were fixed with this nail in an outpatient surgical procedure, mostly under local (Oberst-block) anaesthesia. The average operation time was 21 min.

Results

According to the Crawford criteria, patient outcome was graded as excellent in 48 %, good in 22 %, and fair in 28 %. In one patient, the outcome was graded as poor, but the fracture was in a pre-existent arthritic joint. All fractures were consolidated without recurrent dislocation. Complications included one wound infection, which was successfully treated with antibiotics and without further consequences. No nail deformities occurred. Two times, the nail spontaneously and gradually dislocated during intensive use of the hand after, respectively, 3 and 6 months and could easily be removed under local anaesthesia without any functional sequelae.

Conclusion

The bioresorbable meniscal nail fixation technique provides a fast and successful surgical treatment for mallet fractures with a minimum of adverse events.

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Conflict of interest

Fenne L. M. Aarts declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Rosalie Derks declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Diederick B. Wouters declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Statement of Human and Animal Rights

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 [5]. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IJsselland Hospital, Capelle aan de IJssel, Schieweg 73A, 3038 AG, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Fenne L. M. Aarts

  2. Deventer Hospital, Nico Bolkesteinlaan 75, 7416 SE, Deventer, The Netherlands

    Rosalie Derks

  3. Medical Centre Amstelveen, Burg. Haspelslaan 131, 1181NC, Amstelveen, The Netherlands

    Diederick B. Wouters

Authors
  1. Fenne L. M. Aarts
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  2. Rosalie Derks
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  3. Diederick B. Wouters
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diederick B. Wouters.

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Aarts, F.L.M., Derks, R. & Wouters, D.B. The Meniscus Arrow® as a fixation device for the treatment of mallet fractures: results of 50 cases. HAND 9, 499–503 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11552-014-9619-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11552-014-9619-9

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