Summary

Pediatric Supracondylar humerus fractures are very common and need to be fixed. During fixation surgeon may encounters dilemma both shooting fluoroscopy and maintaining reduction for proper fixation. May this study solve the problem?

Abstract

Background

Supracondylar humerus fractures (SHFs) are frequently seen in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to compare of using single and double-fluoroscopy methods for the closed reduction and percutaneous pinning (CRPP) of Gartland Type 2 and Type 3 SHFs.

Material And Method

Forty patients who underwent surgery between March 2016 and April 2018 were evaluated retrospectively. Twenty-one patients (group 1) who received double-fluoroscopy and 19 patients (group 2) who had single-fluoroscopy were evaluated. The preparation period, surgical duration, radiation exposure time, fracture types, sex distributions, distribution of sides, radiologic results at the 3rd month, cosmetic and functional results, and the incidence of complications were recorded.

Results

The mean age of the patients in group 1 and group 2 was 4.76 (range, 2-9) and 4.68 (2-10) years, respectively. The mean preparation time of group 1 was 11.3 (range, 9-14) minutes, whereas in group 2, it was 8.7 (range, 7-11) minutes (p <0.01). The mean surgical duration was 31.76 (range, 15-45) minutes in group 1, and 40.47 (range, 23-55) minutes in group 2 (p<0.01). The mean radiation exposure time in group 1 and group 2 was 41.19 (range, 20-53) and 47.36 (28-62) seconds, resepcetively (p=0.04). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of fracture types, sex distributions, distribution of sides, radiologic results at the 3rd month, cosmetic and functional results, and the incidence of complications. There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of the preparation period, surgical duration, and radiation exposure time. Radiation exposure time and surgical duration were significantly shorter in group 1, and the preparation period was shorter in group 2.

Conclusions

The double-fluoroscopy technique can significantly reduce surgical duration and radiation exposure time during surgery while treating SHFs of children.
Keywords: supracondylar humerus fracture; percutaneous pinning; closed reduction; double-fluoroscopy