Abstract:

Objective: The second most common pediatric age fracture after the forearm fractures is distal humeral fractures. The aim of the current study is to retrospectively evaluate the results of the surgical treatment of pediatric supracondylar fractures in our clinic and compare it to the literature. Methods: During the period between 2006-2011 54 patients having supracondylar humeral fractures who were surgically treated with open reduction and crossed medial and lateral K wire fixation through posterior approach in our institution included in the study. The sex, etiology and type of the fracture, accompanying injuries, postoperative complications, radiologic parameters, cosmetic and functional results were evaluated. Results: 38 (70,4%) male and 16 (29,6%) female patients were evaluated with a mean age of 5.51 (range;1–11) years. The mean length of hospital stay was 2,29 days. The average follow up was 140 weeks. There was no iatrogenic vascular and nerve injuries. Pin tract infection and heterotopic ossification were observed only in one patient respectively. The functional results were excellent in 90,7%, good in 9,3% and cosmetic results were 90,7 excellent, 5,6% good, 1,9% satisfied, 1,9% bad according to the Flynn criteria. Conclusion: When taking into consideration the duration of hospital stay, the rate of neurovascular complication, the functional and cosmetic results it seems that treating the supracondylar humeral fractures using the posterior approach with crossed medial and lateral K-wire is a safe and effective method.

Keywords: