Surgical fixation compared with cast immobilisation for adults with a bicortical fracture of the scaphoid waist: the SWIFFT RCT

Dias, Joseph; Brealey, Stephen; Cook, Liz; Fairhurst, Caroline; Hinde, Sebastian; Leighton, Paul; Choudary, Surabhi; Costa, Matthew; Hewitt, Catherine; Hodgson, Stephen; Jefferson, Laura; Jeyapalan, Kanagaratnam; Keding, Ada; Northgraves, Matthew; Palmer, Jared; Rangan, Amar; Richardson, Gerry; Taub, Nicholas; Tew, Garry; Thompson, John; Torgerson, David

Abstract

Participants: Adults (aged ≥ 16 years) presenting within 2 weeks of injury with a clear, bicortical fracture of the scaphoid waist on plain radiographs. Interventions: Early surgical fixation using Conformité Européenne-marked headless compression screws. Below-elbow cast immobilisation for 6–10 weeks and urgent fixation of confirmed non-union.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcome and end point was the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation total score at 52 weeks, with a clinically relevant difference of 6 points. Secondary outcomes included Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation pain and function subscales, Short Form questionnaire 12-items, bone union, range of movement, grip strength, complications and return to work.

Results: The mean age of 439 participants was 33 years; 363 participants were male (83%) and 269 participants had an undisplaced fracture (61%). The primary analysis was on 408 participants with valid Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation outcome data for at least one post-randomisation time point (surgery, n = 203 of 219; cast, n = 205 of 220). There was no clinically relevant difference in the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation total score at 52 weeks: the mean score in the cast group was 14.0 (95% confidence interval 11.3 to 16.6) and in the surgery group was 11.9 (95% confidence interval 9.2 to 14.5), with an adjusted mean difference of –2.1 in favour of surgery (95% confidence interval –5.8 to 1.6; p = 0.27). The non-union rate was low (surgery group, n = 1; cast group, n = 4). Eight participants in the surgery group had a total of 11 reoperations and one participant in the cast group required a reoperation for non-union. The base-case economic analysis at 52 weeks found that surgery cost £1295 per patient more (95% confidence interval £1084 to £1504) than cast treatment. The base-case analysis of a lifetime-extrapolated model confirmed that the cast treatment pathway was more cost-effective. The nested qualitative study identified patients’ desire to have a ‘sense of recovering’, which surgeons should address at the outset.

Limitation: There were 17 participants who had initial cast treatment and surgery for confirmed non-union, which in 14 cases was within 6 months from randomisation and in three cases was after 6 months. Three of the four participants in the cast group who had a non-union at 52 weeks were not offered surgery.

Conclusions: Adult patients with an undisplaced or minimally displaced scaphoid waist fracture should have cast immobilisation and suspected non-unions immediately confirmed and urgently fixed. Patients should be followed up at 5 years to investigate the effect of partial union, degenerative arthritis, malunion and screw problems on their quality of life.

Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN67901257.

Citation

Dias, J., Brealey, S., Cook, L., Fairhurst, C., Hinde, S., Leighton, P., Choudary, S., Costa, M., Hewitt, C., Hodgson, S., Jefferson, L., Jeyapalan, K., Keding, A., Northgraves, M., Palmer, J., Rangan, A., Richardson, G., Taub, N., Tew, G., Thompson, J., & Torgerson, D. (2020). Surgical fixation compared with cast immobilisation for adults with a bicortical fracture of the scaphoid waist: the SWIFFT RCT. Health Technology Assessment, 24(52), 1-234. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta24520

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 29, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 2, 2020
• Journal: Health technology assessment (Winchester, England)
• Print ISSN: 1366-5278
• Publisher: NIHR Journals Library
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 52
• Pages: 1-234
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3310/hta24520
• Keywords: Health Policy
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1791623
• Publisher URL: https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/hta/hta24520#/abstract
• Contract Date: May 17, 2019