Any studies comparing the stability of partially reduced fractures when using 1 or 2 distal screws

No studies comparing 1 versus 2 distal screws for partially reduced fractures were found in this retrieval.

The evidence block contains no study that tests this exact question. The closest match is a biomechanical study on distal fibula fractures comparing 1, 2, and 3 lag screws against plate fixation, but that tested anatomically reduced fractures in cadaver bone, not partially reduced clinical fractures [1]. That study found a single lag screw had roughly half the rotational stiffness and one-third the failure torque of two or three screws [1].

A separate study on coronal distal femoral condyle fractures found two 6.5 mm screws provided superior rigidity to a single screw [2]. Neither study addresses the specific scenario of a partially reduced fracture, where the gap or malalignment changes how load transfers through the construct.

The retrieval cannot answer whether one distal screw is enough for a partially reduced fracture. That decision depends on bone quality, fracture pattern, and the amount of residual displacement — variables no study here tested. A surgeon choosing between one and two screws in this setting is working from biomechanical first principles and personal experience, not from published evidence on the exact question.

My call: the evidence does not support a general rule for one versus two distal screws in partially reduced fractures. Confidence: not clear — the question was never studied in the retrieved literature.