Around the elbow, supracondylar injury of humerus is one of the conventional fractures which usually occurs at the age of 7 to 8 years. Various conservative techniques have been used for the management, which comprises of the splintage, tractions, open or closed reduction with k wire fixation. However, closed reduction and percutaneous pinning remains the mainstay of surgical management, for they have shown splendid outcomes according to many authors. Objectives: The aim of this study is to summarise and compare the radiological and functional results of two ways of fixation (cross and parallel closed K wires) of supracondylar fractures in children. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Department of Orthopaedics Surgery, Services Hospital, Lahore. Period: 1st January 2018 to 31st June 2018. Material & Methods: We included 180 patients (90 in each group). Results: The mean age was 6.45±2.34 years with 115(63.9%) male and 65(36.1%) female. Among the children who underwent fixation with cross k-wires, ulnar nerve injury was seen in 2(2.2%) cases and none were seen in the other group post operatively. Group A attained higher union rate at last follow up. 4(4.4%) cases in Cross K-wires and 19(21.1%) in two lateral k-wires gave outstanding outcome. In a nutshell, 60 in group A and 45 in group B showed excellent outcomes based on Flynn's criteria, p-value < 0.05. Conclusion: According to Flynn’s criteria, closed percutaneous cross K-wire fixation of supracondylar fracture of humerus is an effective management option in terms of finer functional results as compared to Parallel k-wires. Although, the rate of radiological union is higher in cross k-wire fixation, there are 2.2% chances of ulnar nerve injury.
Comparison of closed reduction and percutaneous cross verses parallel k wire fixation in supracondylar fractures of the humerus in children.
