Treatment of nonunion of lateral humeral condyle complicated with cubitus valgus with primary fixation in situ and secondary supracondylar varus osteotomy / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate the treatment of nonunion of lateral humeral condyle complicated with cubitus valgus with primary fixation in situ and secondary supracondylar varus osteotomy.Methods:A retrospective analysis was made of the 8 children who had been treated for nonunion of lateral humeral condyle complicated with cubitus valgus at Department of Pediatric Orthopedics, Honghui Hospital from January 2016 to March 2018. They were 5 boys and 3 girls with 5 left and 3 right sides involved. Their age at injury ranged from 6 to 14 years (average, 10 years) and the duration from injury to operation from 2 to 6 years (average, 4 years). At the primary stage, the fragments were fixated in situ with compressive cannulated screws after cleaning the nonunion ends, followed by iliac autograft. At the secondary stage, the humeral supracondylar varus osteotomy was performed after the nonunion was healed and the elbow range of motion recovered. The therapeutic effects were assessed by comparing the elbow range of motion, carrying angle and Mayo elbow performance score (MEPS) between preoperation and the final follow-up.Results:All the patients were followed up for an average of 44.5 months (range, from 27 to 64 months). The average healing time for obsolete nonunion of lateral humeral condyle was 81.3 days (range, from 55 to 120 days) after the primary operation and that for supracondylar varus osteotomy 51.1 days (range, from 45 to 60 days) after the secondary operation. The elbow range of motion was 129.0°±4.6° before operation and 138.0°±5.4° at the final follow-up, showing a significant difference ( P<0.001). The average carrying angle at the healthy side in 8 children was 5.4° (range, from 3° to 8°). The carrying angle at the affected side was 31.9°±4.7° (range, from 25° to 42°) before operation and 4.0°±2.2°(range, from 1° to 8°) at the final follow-up, showing a significant difference ( P<0.05). Their preoperative MEPS was 57.5 ± 6.5 (4 good cases and 4 poor ones) but 95.9±3.4 (6 excellent cases and 2 good ones) at the final follow-up, showing a significant difference ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Treatment of nonunion of lateral humeral condyle complicated with cubitus valgus can be effectively carried out by cleaning fibrous tissue in the nonunion gap, iliac autograft and fragments fixation in situ with compressive cannulated screws at the primary stage and supracondylar varus osteotomy at the secondary stage. Intraoperative preservation of the blood supply to the nonunited fragments is the key to successful management.