Thirty-two plates originally used for fracture fixation in the ulna and
radius in twenty-three patients were removed at Hennepin County Medical
Center in Minneapolis between 1977 and 1982. The plate was on the ulna in
eighteen arms and on the radius in fourteen. Removal of twenty-one plates
was elective, and eleven were removed because of slight pain or discomfort.
The interval between plate application and plate removal ranged from eight
to sixty-two months. The average duration of cast immobilization used for
protection after removal of the plate was six weeks. There were seven
refractures, which occurred between two and forty weeks after plate
removal. Three refractures occurred at the former fracture site; three,
through the fracture site, extending into an adjacent screw-hole; and one,
at one screw-hole. No refracture occurred more than forty weeks after
removal of the plate.