Middle and long term radiologic and functional results of childhood supracondylar humeral fractures operated in first 24 hours with limited medial approach

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the middle-and long-term radiological and functional results of children with type III supracondylar humerus fractures treated with a limited medial approach and internal fixation. Methods: The retrospective study was conducted at Department of Orthopaedics in Goztepe Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, and comprised data of children who underwent surgery between April 1991 and June 2009. Patients in group I underwent surgery within the first 8 hours after admission, and those in group II did so 824 hours after admission. Patients were evaluated according to the Flynn scoring system. Results: Of the 79 patients, 52(65.8%) were male and 27(34.2%) were female. Fractures involved the left side in 49(62%) patients. Group I had 39(49.4%) patients and group II 40(50.6%). The overall mean age was 6.2 +/- 2.95 years (range: 2-13 years), and the mean follow-up was 53.2 +/- 14.9 months (range: 26-193 months). Functional scores were satisfactory (excellent, good and fair results) in all cases in both groups (100%), and the cosmetic results were satisfactory in 37(95%) in group I, and 39(97.5%) in group II (p>0.05). Conclusion: Limited medial approach to the treatment of supracondylar humerus fractures yielded successful functional and cosmetic results.