Does a broken wrist require surgery?

Many people have experienced bone injuries, especially during exercise. If protective measures are not taken or stretching training is not performed in advance, it is very easy to cause bone damage, resulting in symptoms such as ligament strain, sprain or fracture, affecting the body's bone health. When a wrist fracture is broken, it not only affects our daily activities but also causes severe pain. So does a wrist fracture require surgical treatment?

Wrist fractures are common in daily life, and most of the injured are elderly people. Most of the patients fall with their palms landing on the ground. The fracture often occurs 2 cm proximal to the joint at the distal end of the radius, which is clinically called Colle's fracture. If not treated promptly and effectively, the patient's wrist joint will be left with symptoms such as joint deformity, limited joint movement, and joint pain, which often cause many inconveniences to the patient's daily life. Therefore, correct reduction and good fixation must be achieved during diagnosis and treatment.

Treatment

There are two types of treatment for wrist fractures: conservative treatment and surgical treatment. Conservative treatment mainly adopts manual reduction, small splint or plaster splint external fixation. Although conservative treatment can achieve early joint function training, conservative treatment has the concern of unstable fracture fixation, which may cause the fracture to displace again and lead to treatment failure. Surgical treatment mainly involves open reduction and internal fixation with plates. Open reduction surgery can provide strong internal fixation.

Rehabilitation

When the fracture is basically healed, you can start active wrist flexion and extension exercises and wrist flexion resistance exercises. Then, increase the intensity and difficulty of forearm and wrist exercises every 3-4 days. When training the range of motion of joints, avoid using force or violence to avoid causing new injuries. During the recovery period, patients should also add some hand application activity training, such as building blocks, weaving, etc.

Dietary precautions

During the recovery period, patients with fractures must ensure a balanced diet, eat less spicy or allergenic foods, and avoid smoking. Scientific research shows that some chemical components emitted by smoking can hinder the healing of fractures.