Absorbable materialversus Kirschner wire fixation for fractures of the Iateral humeral condyle in children: a Meta-analysis / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Currently, there is no explicit evidence-based medicine evidence to prove the merits or demerits of absorbable materials in the treatment of fractures of the lateral humeral condyle in children. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the clinical efficacies of open reduction with absorbable material versus open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation for lateral condylar fracture of the humerus in children.METHODS:WanFang, VIP, CNKI, CBMdisc, EMbase, PubMed were retrieved for controlled trials concerning open reduction with absorbable material versus open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation for treating lateral condylar fracture of the humerus in children. After data extraction and quality evaluations, RevMan 5.3 software was used for systematic review. Postoperative functional recovery of the elbow joint, average hospitalization expenses, adverse events, delayed union, postoperative infection, nerve injury and deformity of the elbow were compared in patients undergoing different treatments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of seven articles, involving 449 children with lateral condylar fracture of the humerus, were included for this Meta-analysis. Children in test group received open reduction with absorbable material, while those in control group were subjected to open reduction with Kirschner wire fixation. For treating lateral condylar fracture of the humerus in children, no significant inter-group difference existed in the aspects of postoperative functional recovery of the elbow joint [odds ratio (OR)=0.72, 95％ confidence interval (CI) (0.37, 1.41),P=0.34]; postoperative delayed union [OR=0.46, 95％CI(0.16, 1.30),P=0.14]; deformity of the elbow [OR=0.70, 95％CI (0.24, 2.10),P=0.53]. Less adverse events and postoperative infections were observed in the test group compared with the control group [OR=0.17, 95％CI (0.08, 0.38),P < 0.0001;OR=0.09, 95％CI (0.02, 0.38),P=0.001]. However, up to now, we knew of no comparable data concerning average hospitalization expenses and indicators for nerve injury between the two groups. To conclude, compared with Kirschner wire fixation, open reduction with absorbable material can achieve similar effects on lateral condylar fractures of the humerus, but has better effects to prevent adverse events and postoperative infection. Further investigation on large-scale, double-blind, high-quality randomized controlled trials is warranted for confirming our results.