The Journal of hand surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
External fixation of the distal radius: to predrill or not to predrill.
Using both clinical and laboratory studies we investigated whether predrilling before insertion of external fixation pins is necessary for use in treating distal radius fractures. Our clinical study included 50 consecutive external fixators (4.0- and 2.5-mm pins) using 100 predrilled and 100 direct-drilled pins placed in a randomized manner. ⋯ There were, however, significantly elevated temperatures with the direct-drilled technique. We therefore recommend predrilling even though the temperature differences in this bone with this fixator were not clinically evident.