A Novel Mini External Fixation Technique versus Percutaneous Pinning in the Treatment of Phalanx Fracture in Hand

Document Type : LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Authors

1 Department of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, Center for Orthopedic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

2 Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medicine and Life Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China

3 Department of Bone and Joint Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China

10.22038/abjs.2025.91151.4128

Abstract

In this Letter on mini external fixation for phalangeal fractures, we commend the reported short-term improvements in range of motion and return to work. However, we raise concerns regarding the study’s limited follow-up period, which may overlook late-onset complications such as post-traumatic arthritis. Additionally, the lack of stratification by occupational demands limits the interpretability of return-to-work data. We advocate for future studies with longer follow-up and job-based subgroup analyses to enhance clinical relevance and methodological rigor in evaluating fixation techniques for complex hand fractures.

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