A technique of "de-sharpening" intramedullary elastic reduction with Kirschner wire for the treatment of Gartland type III posterolaterally-displaced supracondylar humerus fracture in children / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the clinical effect of "de-sharpening" intramedullary elastic reduction with Kirschner wire and traditional three-dimensional manipulation for the treatment of Gartland type III posterolaterally-displaced supracondylar humerus fracture in children.Methods:A retrospective cohort analysis was made on 106 children with Gartland type III posterolaterally-displaced supracondylar humerus fracture treated in Anhui Provincial Children′s Hospital from March 2020 to June 2022, including 58 males and 48 females; aged 1-12 years [(8.7±2.3)years]. The patients were assigned to "de-sharpening" intramedullary elastic reduction with Kirschner wire (study group, n=50) and traditional three-dimensional manipulation (control group, n=56). The operation time, frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy, fracture healing time, difference of Baumann angle between the normal and injured side at postoperative 3 and 6 months, elbow function Flynn score at last follow-up and complications were compared between the two groups. Results:All children were followed up for 6-12 months [(8.5±1.2)months]. The operation time and frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy were (32.9±3.7)minutes and (20.6±5.4)times in study group, significantly different from (45.6±10.1)minutes and (32.5±8.2)times in control group (all P<0.05). The fracture healing time was (33.0±5.1)days in study group, similar with (33.8±4.7)days in control group ( P>0.05). At 3 and 6 months after operation, the difference of Baumann angle between the normal and injured side was (3.2±0.8)°and (2.3±0.6)°in study group compared to (6.0±2.1)°and (5.8±1.3)°in control group (all P<0.01). According to the elbow function Flynn score at the last follow-up, the results were excellent in 44 children, good in 5 and fair in 1, with the excellent and good rate of 98.0% (49/50) in study group, and were excellent in 47 children, good in 5 and fair in 4, with the excellent and good rate of 92.9% (52/56) in control group ( P>0.05). There were no following complications in both groups, such as osteomyelitis, poor fracture healing, compartment syndrome, iatrogenic neurovascular injury or myositis ossificans. Conclusions:Both "de-sharpening" intramedullary elastic reduction with Kirschner wire and traditional three-dimensional manipulation for the treatment of Gartland type III posterolaterally-displaced supracondylar humerus fracture in children can achieve elbow joint function recovery, with low incidence of complications. However, the former avoids repeated manual reduction, with shorter operation time, less frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy and better correction of the coronal plane deformity and rotation deformity.