Incidence of tendon ruptures after locking plate fixation of distal radial fractures: are the cited rates still accurate?

With the introduction of the anterior locking plate in the early part of this century, there was a large change in how distal radial fractures were treated. Early articles about the techniques reported tendon ruptures occurring in as many as 10%, although studies from our unit reported rates closer to 2%. Subsequent refinements in surgical technique and improvements in plate design have been made with the aim of reducing the number of ruptures. Despite this, the original articles and their rates continue to be quoted. In this retrospective study of 798 cases treated with anterior locking plates, tendon ruptures have been significantly reduced and are now as low as 0.5%. Contributing factors leading to this improvement are identified and discussed.