ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to inform the orthopaedic trauma surgeon making treatment decisions in the older patient. Assessment of a patient with a distal radius fractures is particularly important in the elderly patient as treatment decisions are often complex and have to consider many factors. The aim of treatment of a distal radius fracture is to restore normal function of the wrist and hand and it is critical that treatment has a realistic chance of achieving that goal. Non-operative treatment remains the most common treatment method for fractures of the distal radius and consists of plaster or splint management with or without closed reduction. Partial articular fractures of the distal radius are either volar shearing or volar lip, dorsal shearing or dorsal lip or radial styloid fractures and usually result from impaction of the scaphoid and lunate complex onto the distal radius. Ulnar nerve injury is less common than median injury with prevalence reported as being 0.5–4.2%.
