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Conservative Treatment of Distal Radius Fracture in Elderly in Randomized Controlled Trial

Comparison of Volar-flexion, Ulnar-deviation and Functional Position Cast Immobilization in the Non-operative Treatment of Distal Radius Fracture in Elderly Patients: a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02894983
Enrollment
114
Registered
2016-09-09
Start date
2016-06-30
Completion date
2018-05-31
Last updated
2018-05-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Colles' Fracture, Distal Radius Fracture

Keywords

wrist fracture, colles fracture, non-operative, rehabilitation

Brief summary

There is no consensus about the best conservative treatment for patients with dorsally displaced distal radius fractures. The previous studies that have examined the most valid method for cast immobilization have lacked uniform and patient-rated outcome measures, proper randomization and sufficient study population. The aim of this study is to compare functional position cast to flexion-ulnar -deviation with dorsally displaced distal radius fractures in patients aged 65 years or older. The conservative treatment is performed in clinical practice by various health care professionals with different techniques of reduction which are not limited to any specific technique in this pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.

Interventions

OTHERFlexion-ulnar cast

The group will be treated with closed reduction and flexion-ulnar deviation position cast. This will take place under local anaesthesia by means of local infiltration commonly used in Finland. There is no preferable method for performing the reduction. Additional radiographs will be taken to verify the success of the reduction one week after the reduction and after two and five weeks of casting if treating health care professional it requires. The cast will be disposed after 5 weeks.

OTHERFunctional cast

The group will be treated with closed reduction and functional position cast. This will take place under local anaesthesia by means of local infiltration commonly used in Finland. There is no preferable method for performing the reduction. Additional radiographs will be taken to verify the success of the reduction one week after the reduction and after two and five weeks of casting if treating health care professional it requires. The cast will be disposed after 5 weeks.

Sponsors

Central Finland Hospital District
CollaboratorOTHER
Satakunta Central Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Tampere University Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
65 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Low energy intra- or extra-articular dorsal primarily stable, reducible DRF within 3 cm of the radiocarpal joint diagnosed with lateral and posterior-anterior radiographs in ER * Physician on-call (general practitioner, acute physician, orthopedic resident, orthopedic consult) thinks patient could be appropriate for non-operative treatment

Exclusion criteria

* Operative treatment * Refuse to participate the study * Open fracture more than Gustilo 1 gradus * Age under 65 years * Chauffeure's or Barton´s fracture * Smith´s fracture (volar angulation of the fracture) * Does not understand written and spoken guidance in local languages * Pathological fracture or previous fracture in the same wrist, forearm or elbow

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) measure is the primary outcome measure of wrist pain and disability in the study2 yearsThe PRWE comprises 15 questions to measure wrist pain and disability in daily activities. In PRWE patients rate wrist pain and disability from 0 to 10 and it consists three subscales: Pain, Function and Cosmetics.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Quality of life measured with the 15-D.2 yearsThe 15D is a validated, generic, self-administered instrument for assessing the health related quality of life among adults. It combines the advantages of a preference-based and single index measure on a 0-1 scale.
Pain measured in Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).Baseline, 3 months, 1 year, 2 yearsThe VAS is derived by health care professional question of pain in scale 0 to 10 in which 0 implies no pain and 10 the worst possible pain.
Disability of the wrist measured with the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH) questionnaire.2 yearsThe QuickDASH is self-reported questionnaire and shortened version of DASH outcome measure to measure physical function and symptoms in people with any or multiple musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb in 11 dimensions in 1-5 scale.
Grip strength is measured with a dynamometer3 monthsGrip strength is measured with a dynamometer in kg as the mean of three measurements. It will be numbered in percentage of the uninjured side.
The pain catastrophizing scale (PCS) is measured with a self-administered questionnaire.2 yearsThe PCS is designed to measure person's willingness to catastrophize the pain while they are experiencing it. In the questionnaire patients answer questions about how they feel and think when they are in pain and it can be taken while they are not experiencing pain.
Range of motion (ROM) is measured with a goniometer3 monthsThe ROM of the wrist is measured on both hands with a handheld goniometer in degrees.

Countries

Finland

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 26, 2026