Objective To evaluate the clinical effect of the treatment of bony mallet finger with steel wire binding through bone tunnel of the distal phalanx. Methods From Aug. 2019 to Jul. 2022, 32 patients with bony mallet fingers who were admitted to the hand and foot micro repair and reconstruction ward of The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were selected and divided into 2 groups according to the different treatment methods. The observation group (15 cases) used the steel wire binding method through bone tunnel, and the control group (17 cases) used the micro bone anchor method. The operation time, treatment cost, wound healing and complications were recorded. The Crawford criteria was used to evaluate the postoperative functional recovery. Results All 32 patients successfully completed the operation. The operation time in the observation group was significantly shorter than that in the control group (［57.5±18.1］ min vs ［69.6±15.3］ min, P＜0.05), and the treatment cost was significantly lower than that in the control group (［6 936.25±639.78］ yuan vs［11 021.62±459.73］ yuan, P＜0.05). The patients were followed up for 3 to 24 months, with an average of (15.9±7.0) months. According to the Crawford criteria the excellent and good rate was 100.0% (15/15) in the observation group and 82.4% (14/17) in the control group 3 months after surgery, with no statistical significance (P＞0.05). In the observation group, all patients healed at the first stage without wound infection, skin necrosis, displacement of fracture blocks, joint deformities or other complications. In the control group, there were 3 cases with poor postoperative incision recovery (including 2 cases with suture reaction), 1 case with fracture malunion, and 1 case with deck deformity. Conclusion The treatment of bony mallet finger with steel wire binding through bone tunnel is an ideal method with simple operation and satisfactory functional recovery of the distal interphalangeal joint.