AO and Frykman's classifications of Colles' fracture. No prognostic value in 652 patients evaluated after 5 years.

We retrospectively assessed hand and forearm symptoms of 652 patients with a Colles' fracture, 5 years after the fracture, using a questionnaire. The contralateral forearm, which was free of major injuries or illnesses, was used as control. Forearm and hand symptoms were common and only one quarter of the fractured forearms were completely free of symptoms at the time of review, whereas four fifths of the control forearms had no symptoms. Nearly half of the patients complained of impairment in various activities and 8% had had to give up leisure activities or make special arrangements at work. Demographic, and most of the fracture-related factors, were not associated with the symptoms. Neither AO nor Frykman's radiographic classifications of the primary fracture were of any use for predicting the clinical outcome.