A Comparative Study of the Effect of TCM External Therapy on Patients with Type A and Type C Colles Fracture

Abstract

Background To compare the clinical efficacy of TCM external therapy on patients with type A and type C Colles fracture. Methods: A total of 97 patients with Colles fracture, who were admitted to our hospital from Jan. 2017 to Mar. 2018, were selected and divided into type A group (50 cases) and type C group (47 cases) according to the fracture types of the patients. Patients in the two groups were treated with external treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, namely external application of traditional Chinese medicine combined with manual reduction. The clinical efficacy, the degree of fracture swelling and the imaging-related indexes before and after treatment were compared between patients in both groups. Results: The total effective rate of patients in type A group and type C group was 96% and 74.47% respectively, and the rate in type A group was markedly higher than that in type C group (P<0.05). Two weeks after the treatment, the degree of fracture swelling in two groups was obviously lower than that before the treatment (P<0.05), and the degree of fracture swelling in type A group was signally lower than that in type C group (P<0.05). Two weeks after the treatment, the ulnar inclination angle, palm inclination angle, relative height of the radius, and collapse of the joint surface in two groups were remarkably better than that before the treatment (P<0.05), where the condition in these aspects of type A group was significantly better than that of type C group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The clinical efficiency of TCM external treatment on patients with type A Colles fracture is better than that on patients with type C Colles fracture.