Arthrography in treatment of humeral condyle fractures with displacement of less than 2 mm in children / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of arthrography in the treatment of lateral condylar fracture of humerus with displacement of ≤ 2 mm in children.Methods A retrospective study was performed in the 21 children with lateral condylar fracture of humerus who had received arthrography in their surgery at Department of Pediatric Orthopedics,Honghui Hospital,Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine from April 2015 to December 2016.They were 14 boys and 7 girls,aged from 5 to 12 years (average,8.6 years).Their primary diagnosis was made within one week from injury and they all had a displacement of ≤ 2 mm.Of them,2 were treated by plaster fixation because intraoperative arthrography found no fracture of articular cartilage (group A),11 by simple closed pining because intraoperative arthrography found fracture of articular cartilage involving the joint space (group B),and 8 by open reduction and fixation with kirschner wire because intraoperative arthrography found displacement of the involved articular surface (group C).The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated at final follow-ups by the Dhillon scoring system.Results All the 21 children were followed up from 9 to 23 months (average,16 months).The fracture union time ranged from 8 to 10 weeks (average,9 weeks) for groups A and B and from 11 to 13 weeks (average,12 weeks) for group C.By the Dhillon scores at final follow-ups,the therapeutic efficacy was evaluated as excellent in one and as good in one in group A,as excellent in 8 cases,as good in 2 cases and as fair in one in group B,and as excellent in 6 cases,as good in one and as fair in one in group C.No early closure of epiphysis,osteonecrosis or fishtail deformity was found in either group A or group B;one case of partial limitation of elbow flexion or extension,one case of fishtail deformity and one case of femoral head necrosis were observed in group C.No infection or skin necrosis was found in any of the 3 groups.Conclusions Because intraoperative arthrography can definitely judge whether the articular surface is intact or unstable,it can make up for the insufficiency of X-rays in judging integrity of the articular surface.In combination with closed reduction,percutaneous puncture or open reduction and internal fixation,intraoperative arthrography can contribute to an increased rate of successful surgery,and reduced complications due to redisplacement.