Open reduction and internal fixation with K-wires + plaster external fixation for old Gartland-Ⅲ supracondylar humeral fractures in children / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of open reduction and internal fixation with K-wires for old Gartland Ⅲ supracondylar fracture in children.Methods A retrospective case series study was conducted on 49 children with old Gartland Ⅲ supracondylar humeral fracture admitted from June 2012 to January 2017.There were 35 boys and 14 girls,with average age of 6.1 years (range,3.4-11.5 years).The duration from initial trauma to operation ranged from 22 days to 60 days (mean,29.8 days).There were five cases of radial nerve injury,one case of median nerve injury,and one case of Volkmann ischemic contracture.All patients were surgically treated with open reduction and internal fixation with K-wires + plaster external fixation.Six patients with nerve injury underwent neurological exploration and release.Nerve partial fracture was seen in one patient during operation,and nerve repair was performed.The fracture healing and complications were observed.At the final follow up,Flynn's criteria was applied to evaluate the elbow joint function.The humerus length and transverse diameter of humeral condyle between the healthy limb and the suffered one were compared to evaluate the humerus growth.Results All patients were followed up for 6-24 months,with an average of 12.5 months.All fractures were healed,with no fracture redisplacement or bone nonunion occurred.The neurological symptoms of six patients with nerve injury disappeared after two months.One patient had superficial skin infection at the incision and recovered after treatment.Six patients (12％) developed cubitus varus deformity after operation.At the final follow-up,the clinical and radiographic outcomes were assessed via Flynn's criteria,and the results were excellent in 37 patients,good in five,fair in one,and poor in six patients,with an excellent and good rate of 86％.There were no significant differences in the humerus length [(189.3 ± 27.8) mm vs.(190.6 ± 28.8) mm] and transverse diameter of humeral condylar [(29.5 ± 3.5) mm vs.(29.7 ± 3.6) mm] (P ＞ 0.05) between the healthy limb and the suffered one,respectively.Conclusion For old Gartland type Ⅲ supracondylar humeral fracture in children,open reduction and internal fixation with K-wires + plaster external fixation can attain satisfactory function recovery of elbow joint and reduce the incidence of cubitus varus deformity,without negative influence on children's humerus growth or development.