J Orthopaed Traumatol (2008) 9:69–72 Table 2 Loss of angles and AO class AO class (number of patients) Loss of angles—mean (range) Table 3 Loss of angles and timing of wire removal Timing of K-wire removal (number of patients) Loss of angles—mean (range) A2 (10) A3 (18) C1 (14) C2 (12) C3 (5) P value (analysis of variance) 4 weeks (8) 5 weeks (12) 6 weeks (33) [6 weeks (6) P value (analysis of variance) and placement of a pin from the ulnar corner of the radius is described to be the most rigid construct biomechanically [11]. Secondary displacement after K wire ﬁxation is explained by residual instability due to fracture comminu- tion or osteoporosis. Correlation between anatomical and functional results is yet another controversial topic in treatment of these fractures. Most authors consider loss of radial length (ulnar variance) as the most crucial radiological parameter that inﬂuences the functional outcome [5, 12]. AO classiﬁcation is the most detailed and useful system for classiﬁcation of distal radial fractures with signiﬁcant inter observer agreement [13, 14]. We selected AO clas- siﬁcation to classify fractures in our series based on these observations. We found that distal radial fractures did not suffer sig- niﬁcant loss of reduction after removal of wires. We have reported in a previous study [15] that during the period of wire ﬁxation and before wire removal there is signiﬁcant loss of these angles. Average loss of radial tilt reported in that study was 4.12 , loss of dorsal tilt was 8.07 and loss of ulnar variance was 3.12 mm. Compared to this, the loss of angles after wire removal is signiﬁcantly less. (Radial tilt: 2.6 ; dorsal tilt : 2.6 and ulnar variance: 1.3 mm). Age, sex and AO class did not inﬂuence loss of reduction after wire removal in contrast to the observation during wire ﬁxation where they had showed statistically signiﬁcant loss of radiological parameters with increasing age, female sex and increasing comminution as in AO class. Based on our observations we found that leaving wires in situ for longer than 4 weeks did not offer any signiﬁcant advantage in terms of securing fracture reduction and the same was true with the use of Kapandji wires. Previous studies have 71 Dorsal tilt 2.7 (0–12) 3.4 (0–12) 2.5 (0–8) 1.6 (0–6) 3.0 (0–4) 0.528 Dorsal tilt 1.5 (0–4) 3.2 (0–12) 2.7 (0–12) 2.2 (0–4) 0.565 Radial tilt 5.4 (0–30) 1.7 (0–4) 1.8 (0–6) 1.5 (0–6) 4 (0–12) 0.106 Ulnar variance (mm) 1.1 (0–2) 1.2 (0–4) 0.9 (0–2) 1.8 (0–10) 1.2 (0–4) 0.795 Radial tilt 1.5 (0–4) 3.6 (0–12) 1.8 (0–6) 6.7 (0–30) 0.075 Ulnar variance (mm) 0.9 (0–4) 1.0 (0–2) 1.2 (0–8) 2.7 (0–10) 0.235 shown that Kapandji wires do not offer any protection against late collapse after wire removal [4]. The limitations of our study were that being a retro- spective study, we had to exclude patients without comparable radiographs for measurements and that we did not investigate into the functional outcome in these patients. Kirschner wire ﬁxation for unstable fractures of distal radius is a good technique to prevent redisplacement. Removal of wires can be done at any convenient point after the fourth week as practiced widely but preferably before 6 weeks. Loss of reduction after removal of wires is insigniﬁcant and is not inﬂuenced by age, fracture com- minution and period of ﬁxation. Author’s declaration This study was conducted according to the current laws in United Kingdom and in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from patients where necessary. Conﬂict of interest statement The authors declare that they have no conﬂict of interest related to the publication of this manuscript. References 1. Simic PM, Weiland AJ (2003) Fractures of the distal aspect of the radius: changes in treatment over the past two decades. Instr Course Lect 52:185–195 2. Miyake T, Hashizume H, Inoue H, Shi Q, Nagayama N (1994) Malunited colles’ fracture. Analysis of stress distribution. J Hand Surg [Br] 19(6):737–742 3. Fujii K, Henmi T, Kanematsu Y, Mishiro T, Sakai T, Terai T (2002) Fractures of the distal end of radius in elderly patients: 123