J Orthopaed Traumatol (2008) 9:69–72 DOI 10.1007/s10195-008-0005-7 O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E Late collapse of distal radius fractures after K-wire removal: is it signiﬁcant? H. V. Kurup Æ V. M. Mandalia Æ K. A. Shaju Æ B. Singh Æ A. R. Beaumont Received: 12 November 2007 / Accepted: 1 April 2008 / Published online: 22 May 2008 Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract Background The aim of this study was to ﬁnd out whe- ther distal radius fractures treated by Kirschner wire (K wire) ﬁxation loose reduction after wire removal and ana- lyze the variables may inﬂuence this. Materials and methods Patients who underwent K wire ﬁxation for unstable fractures of distal radius over a period of 3 years were included in this retrospective study. Frac- tures were classiﬁed according to AO classiﬁcation. Radiographs taken just prior to removal of K wires and radiographs taken at least 1 month after wire removal were analyzed to study three radiological parameters; Palmar or dorsal tilt, radial inclination and ulnar variance. Loss of these angles was analyzed statistically against variables like age, sex, AO classiﬁcation and duration of ﬁxation. Results 59 fractures were analyzed with mean age of 56 years and male to female ratio of 1:2. Average loss of radial tilt was 2.6 , loss of palmar tilt was 2.6 and loss of ulnar variance was 1.3 mm. Conclusions We found that distal radius fractures treated by percutaneous K wire ﬁxation, did not suffer signiﬁcant loss of reduction of fracture position after removal of wires. This remains true regardless of age, sex, fracture type according to AO type or duration of wire ﬁxation. H. V. Kurup (&) Mayday University Hospital, Croydon CR7 7YE, UK e-mail: harishvk@yahoo.com V. M. Mandalia K. A. Shaju A. R. Beaumont Salisbury District Hospital, Salisbury SP2 8BJ, UK B. Singh Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, London SE18 4QH, UK Keywords Distal Radius Fracture K wire ﬁxation Loss of reduction Radiological variables Introduction Fractures of the distal radius are the most common of all orthopedic injuries accounting for nearly 20% of all frac- tures presenting to emergency department [1]. Malunion of distal radius fractures lead to posttraumatic arthritis, mid carpal instability and pain [2]. Conservative treatment of minimally displaced and stable fractures of distal end of radius in elderly patients usually shows a good outcome but the treatment of severely displaced and unstable fractures has been controversial. The functional results in patients with signiﬁcant radial shortening are poor. Fujii et al. [3] recommended reduction of these fractures even in elderly patients. Percutaneous pinning is said to be a simple, minimally invasive technique and is aimed at preventing redisplacement of the fragments. Wires are usually retained for 4–6 weeks. Most opponents of this technique claim that these fractures tend to collapse even after removal of wires [4]. The aim of our study was to ﬁnd out whether these fractures loose reduction after removal of wires and whe- ther this has any statistically signiﬁcant association with any of the factors looked at. Materials and methods Patients who underwent Kirschner wire (K wire) ﬁxation for distal radius fractures in our department from June 2000 to May 2003 were included in this retrospective study. Palmar Tilt, Radial Tilt and Ulnar Variance were measured in these patients on plane radiographs [5]. Extra-articular 123