As stated before, it is possible that, because of the type of fracture, the wrist will not be able to be returned to its original anatomical position. There are several reasons that this can occur. When a bone fractures into many pieces, it may be difficult to determine the original location of all the pieces.

It is also possible that the fractured bone cannot be held in place with hardware. This is often the case when many fracture fragments exist from severe osteoporosis or thinning of the bone with age or disease.

These conditions can lead to early development of arthritis in the joint, which causes pain and limited range of motion.