Surgical Management of Supracondylar Fractures of the Humerus in Children by Closed Reduction and Percutaneous Pinning with Kirschnner Wires-A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Supracondylar Humerus Fracture (SCHF) is frequently encountered in paediatric age group and constitutes nearly three fourth of all upper extremity fractures. Most commonly used technique for surgical treatment in the displaced SCHF in children is closed reduction and stabilisation with percutaneous pins. Aim: To find out the outcome and safety of percutaneous pinning techniques in terms of functional and radiological outcome and to note the associated complications with this method of fixation. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted on patients admitted to Department of Orthopaedics, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan, between January 2017 to December 2019. Thirty paediatric cases were retrospectively reviewed. These were admitted with a supracondylar fracture and had reported to the hospital over a three-year period. All fractures were treated with closed reduction and fixation with percutaneus K-wire followed by immobilisation in above elbow slab for three weeks. K-wires were removed at three weeks and mobilisation with physiotherapy was advised. Outcome was measured by Flynn’s Criteria. The results were analyzed as per appropriate descriptive statistical tests. Results: The mean age of the patients was 7.4 years (range 3-15years). Males outnumbered females. Total 22 (73.3%) patients had left-sided fracture and 8 (26.6%) had fracture on right side. Fracture union was seen in all the patients at a mean interval of 4.2 weeks (range 3-5 weeks), in a follow up of 12 weeks. Most (90%) of the injuries were the result of trauma, including fall. 70% of the fractures were Gartland Type III supracondylar fracture. Cross K- wire fixation was done in 21 patients and lateral-only pin in 9 patients. Among the 21 patients, who had type III fracture, 4 of them were fixed with 2 Lateral K- wire pinning and 17 of them with crossed K-wire pinning configuration. The commonest post-operative complication observed was a superficial pin tract infection, seen in 4 (13.3%) patients. Outcome according to the Flynn’s criteria 25 patients (83.3%) had excellent result, 3 (10%) patients had good result, 1 (3.3%) had fair result and 1 (3.3%) patient had poor functional result. Conclusion: The present study concludes that close reduction and percutaneous k-wire pinning techniques give a favorable outcome in displaced supracondylar fractures of the humerus in children, without any serious complications.