Not always. When I had a broken bone, I opted for metal screws over the non-invasive way. Not only I got a pretty scar to show off (and nobody to show it off to), but also it grew together in a textbook way and I had limited but acceptable (good enough for two-handed typing) mobility almost from day one, and got 95% back in just few months. (And sometimes the fragments just don’t want to grow together in the conventional way. Much less likely when the parts are held together.)
Sometimes it’s better to opt for the scalpel even when you have alternatives. It may be the less painful (surprisingly, actually) and more certain way.
Pro tip. Get the removal of the steel in local anaesthesia; the total one is overkill, too risky, and to add a lingering insult to injury, will do something to your brain so you’ll be prone to subtle mistakes for a couple weeks and feel stupid as a result. The steel rods being pulled out feel funny, though.
