Background The common methods for assessing postoperative outcomes in patients with distal radius fractures (DRFs) are mostly observational. In contrast to these traditional assessment tools, postoperative assessments based on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are becoming more popular. The aim of this study was to analyze the postoperative radiological measurements and physical examination measures as predictive measures for patient-reported satisfying outcomes defined by the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score and the Gartland and Werley score.

Purpose The aim of this study was to inspect whether postoperative radiological and physical examination measurements are associated with better PROs. This correlation would be beneficial to assess surgery's success and predict patient's recovery process, helping with coordination of patient's expectations postsurgery.

Study Design This is a retrospective cohort study.

Methods Eligible patients were those who underwent Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF) of DRFs and answered the DASH and Gartland and Werley questionnaires with a minimal follow-up period of 6 months and a 2-year median follow-up time; during follow-up, physical examination measures and radiographic measures were taken.

Results This study has found that older patients have a higher probability to achieve better PROs postsurgery and ROM has been found as a factor correlated with DASH score and Gartland and Werley score. A model combining grip strength, supination, and extension was able to predict the DASH score with 63% of variance: DASH score = 88.864–(0.288 × grip strength) – (0.371 × supination) – (0.270 × extension).

Conclusions Due to the high prevalence of DRFs and their debilitating effect on patients' functionality, a credible assessment tool must be defined to predict postsurgery patient satisfaction and help in the patient selection process.

Level of Evidence III.

*Dor Yaakobi and Itay Ron contributed equally contributed equally.

Received: 07 August 2024

Accepted: 19 September 2024

Article published online:
04 November 2024

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