A Comparative Assessment of Functional Outcome of Clavicular Fractures Treated by Conservative and Surgical Methods: An Institutional Based Study

ABSTRACT

Background: Clavicle fracture is a common condition mostlytreated conservatively. Newer operative modalities have comeup to obtain early fixation.Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in30 patients of clavicle mid shaft fractures which were treatedsurgically and conservatively. Closed fresh fractures in themiddle third region, open fractures of grade 1 and 2 wereincluded and grade 3 open fractures were excluded from thestudy. Patients under the age of 18 and fractures in the medialand lateral third, Pathological fractures were excluded from thestudy. The patients are divided randomly in to operative andconservative group. Sutures removed at 10-12 days. Thefunctional outcome was assessed by Constant and Murleyscore.Results: In the present study total sample size was 30.Clavicular fractures were prevalent in males (60%). Unionoccur in maximum cases in conservative treatment in 21months whereas in operative treatment union occurs inmaximum cases in18 months. The functional outcome wasexcellent in 5 cases in conservative treatment whereas inoperative treatment it was excellent in 6 cases.Conclusion: The present study concluded that operativetreatment was better than conservative treatment for clavicularfractures.