Clinical characteristics and treatment of complex fracture-dislocations of the elbow in children / 中华骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To summarize and discuss the concept and clinical manifestations of complex fracture-dislocations of the elbow in children, and compare its injury characteristics, treatment and clinical effect with adults.Methods:From September 2015 to January 2020, 34 patients seen and treated at our institution for complex fracture-dislocations of the elbow were identified, and their medical records and radiographs were reviewed retrospectively. The inclusion criteria were elbow dislocation combined with one or more fractures at the proximal ulna and radius. There were 25 boys and 9 girls, with an average age of 8.3±3.2 years. The left arm was involved in 27 cases, and the right arm was involved in 7 cases. The causes of injury included falling from a scooter in 16 cases, falling from height in 10 cases, cycling in 5 cases and traffic accident in 3 cases. All patients were treated with closed reduction and the application of plaster under local anaesthesia in the emergency room. Then, X-ray, CT and MRI were performed to evaluate the fracture-dislocation and ligament injury. The following treatment plan was comprehensively evaluated according to the size and displacement of the combined fracture block and the stability of the elbow, for example, open reduction with K-wires and tension band or plate fixation for olecranon fracture, open reduction with loop plate fixation for coronal process fracture, closed reduction or open reduction with K-wires or elasticstable intramedullary nail for radial neck fracture.Results:Among the 34 patients, there were 16 cases of transolecranon fracture-dislocation, 1 case of varus posteromedial rotational instability, 4 cases of valgus posterolateral rotatory instability and 13 cases of divergent dislocation of elbow. All patients were followed up for 13(8, 15) months, and the average fracture healing time was 3.5±0.8 weeks, with no failure of internal fixation. In 2 cases of elbow dislocation combined radial neck fracture, one case had ischemic necrosis of the radial head and one case had early closure of epiphyseal plate of the proximal radius. At the last follow-up, all patients had no subluxation, dislocation or instability of the elbow. The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated at the final follow-up by the Mayo elbow performance score (MEPS) as excellent in 25 cases, good in 5 cases, fair in 3 cases, and poor in one case, with excellent and good rate 88%.Conclusion:The complex fracture-dislocations of the elbow is rare in children. We have the opinion that the clinical characteristics are dislocation combined with one or more fractures of the proximal ulna and radius. Compared with adults, its pathological characteristics and the scope of injury are similar, but most of the injuries are mild. The clinical manifestations are mainly transolecranon fracture-dislocation and divergent dislocation of elbow. Good results can be achieved in most cases through open reduction with internal fixation for fractures.