Bipolar radial head replacement for treatment of comminuted radial head fractures:a preliminary report / 中国矫形外科杂志

ABSTRACT

[Objective]To seek for a method to rebuild radial head for comminuted radial head fractures,and recommend a new technique of bipolar radial head replacement.[Method]Five patients with fresh comminuted radial head fractures were treated by Tornier cement stem and bipolar radial prothesis.Among them,three were females and two were males,with the average age of 37.4Y(29-48Y).Four cases were to Mason type Ⅲ and one Mason type Ⅳ.All the patients underwent operation within 3-11 days with an average of 6 days after injury.Rehabilitation began in Mason type Ⅲ radial head fracture patients 48 h postoperatively.Both medial and lateral ligaments were repaired in one case of Mason type Ⅳ fracture.Plastic brace were used for 3 weeks during functional rehabilitation.The postoperative elbow joint was evaluated clinically by Broberg and Morrey score.[Result]All the patients healed by first intention were followed up for 7 to 50 months,with an average of 30 months.According to elbow functional evaluation criteria by Broberg and Morrey scores,there were excellent results in three and good in two respectively with an average of 92.2 points.[Conclusion]Cement stem and bipolar radial head prothesis replacement is a good technique for treating comminuted radial head fractures because it meets the designing principle of modern orthopaedics.