K-wire fixation for treatment of supracondylar humeral fractures in children: a comparison of different wire insertion techniques

Abstract

Objective To compare the treatment outcomes of techniques of K-wire fixation for treatment of supracondylar humeral fractures in children and provide guidelines for selection of internal fixation methods for humeral supracondylar fractures in children.Methods Sixty-four cases d humeral supracondlylar fractures in children were treated by K-wire internal fixation from January 2004 to January 2009.They were divided into 2 groups, with similar fracure types distributed to each group.Group one (crisscross K-wire fixation) contained 38 cases among which 21 were Gartlad Ⅱ fractures and 17 were Gartland Ⅲ fractures.Group two (lateral parallel K-wire fixation) cases contained 26 cases among which 18 cases were Gartland Ⅱ fractures and 8 cases were Garland Ⅲ fractures.Postoperative elbow functions were evaluated and compared between the two groups.Statistical analysis of the excellent-good rate was carried out.Results Postoperatively all 64 patients were follow-up for 6 to 54 moths (average 26 months).The excellent-good rate of elbow fiuctions in group one and two was 92.1% and 84.6%, respectively.There was no significant difference in functional recovery between the two fixation methods (P＞ 0.05).However ulnar nerve injury occurred in 4 cases of the crisscross K-wire insertion group, while none occurred in the lateral parallel K-wire insertion group.Conclusion Crisscross and lateral parallel K-wire fixation have similar clinical outcomes in treating humeral supracondylar fiactures in children.Lateral parallel K-wire fixation technique is simpler and can avoid the risk of iatrogenic ulnar nerve injury.It therefore is an effective method to treat Gartland Ⅱ and Ⅲ supracondylar humerus fractures. Key words: Fracture fixation,internal; Child; Humeral supracondylar fractures