Assessment of complications of distal radius fractures and development of a complication checklist

The purposes of this study were to determine the overall incidence of distal radius fracture (DRF) complications, determine the incidence and types of DRF complications in a consecutive cohort of 250 patients with DRFs, describe DRF complications reported by patients compared with those reported by physicians, and formulate a DRF complication checklist to improve recording of DRF complications. We found that the overall complication rates vary widely (6% to 80%). Physician-reported complication data were collected for 236 patients, and a physician-reported complication rate of 27% was determined. A patient-reported complication rate of 21% was found for 207 patients whose patient-reported data were collected. We also noted that patients and physicians assess DRF complications differently: patients are more focused on symptoms than diagnoses. A DRF complication checklist was developed to improve prospective data collection. The checklist includes a classification for all DRF complications and allows for assessment of severity of each complication. (J Hand Surg 2001;26A:916–922. Copyright © 2001 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.)