SAFETY AND RELIABILITY OF CARBON-PEEK PLATE FOR THE TREATMENT OF DISTAL RADIUS FRACTURES: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Introduction Distal radius fractures are one of the most common injuries. Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) are the most diffused between surgical treatments. Carbon-fiber reinforced (CFR) polyetheretherketone (PEEK) plates have been proposed to prevent effects linked to stainless steel or titanium alloy traditional plates, such as radio-opacity, mismatch of bone-plate elasticity modulus, corrosion, limited fatigue life, osseointegration. Objective This review aims to evaluate the actual safety and reliability of CFR-PEEK plates to treat distal radius fractures. Methods Electronic databases PubMed, Google Scholars, and Cochrane Library were searched in December 2020. Eligible studies were published in peer-reviewed journals. Three authors independently selected relevant articles and discussed those. Searching identified 13 titles and abstracts, 11 manuscripts were considered eligible for the full-text analysis. Of these 11 papers, 7 studies were included in our review. Results 215 patients were analyzed in this systematic review. The mean age of enrolled patients was 52,8 years. 34% were males and 66% were females. Fractures were classified according to AO/ASIF classification system. We reported 12 cases of complications specific to this device, such as intraoperative plate and screws rupture, erosive flexor tendons synovitis, and loosening. Conclusion CFR-PEEK distal radius plates are potentially an alternative to traditional ones. But we believe that the use of this device does not entail a significant advantage in the treatment of distal radius fractures, as safe and low-cost traditional devices are available. Further comparative studies are needed to demonstrate the superiority of carbon devices.