The radiographic results are presented in Fig. 3a–c. From 10 days to 1 month, i.e. the only period when the type of treatment differed between the two treatment groups, the active group redisplaced significantly more than the control group in dorsal angulation, radial angulation and axial compression. During this period, the active group redisplaced 4.5° (p < 0.001) more in dorsal angulation, 2.0° (p < 0.001) more in radial angulation and 0.5 mm (p = 0.01) more in axial compression compared with the control group. Seen over the entire study, i.e. from admission to 12 months, the fractures in the active group redisplaced 1.1° (p = 0.48) more in dorsal angulation, 3.2° (p = 0.002) more in radial angulation and 0.7 mm (p = 0.02) more in axial compression than the control group.