Treatment of supracondylar fractures of the humerus by manipulation and revision

  Supracondylar humerus fracture is one of the more common types of upper extremity fractures, mostly occurring in children and adolescents under the age of 10. The upper part of the humeral condyle is at the junction of osteophyte and dense bone, and there is a coronal fossa in front and a hawk’s nest in the back, and the bone between the two fossae is extremely thin, which is a weak point in stress and is more prone to fracture. The fracture here is mostly due to indirect violence, and the fracture can be divided into extension type, flexion type and comminution type, among which the extension type is more common, accounting for more than 90%.  When supracondylar fractures of the humerus are not treated properly they can easily cause Volkmann’s ischemic muscle contracture or elbow inversion deformity. Although various treatment methods have been improved or enhanced, so that the harmful Volkmann ischemic muscle contracture has been significantly reduced, but the inversion deformity of the elbow still occurs continuously, and the incidence is still high, which must be paid attention to when treating.  For the treatment, it is divided into the following aspects: 1. Fractures with displacement The fracture is repositioned manually under brachial plexus or general anesthesia, and the long arm is fixed in a cast for 4 to 6 weeks. The main points of the manual repositioning are: first longitudinal traction to correct the overlapping displacement, then lateral extrusion to correct the lateral displacement, and finally to correct the anterior-posterior displacement. The radial lateral displacement need not be completely corrected, and the ulnar lateral displacement should be overcorrected to avoid elbow inversion deformity. For flexion fracture, fix the fracture in semi-extension position after resetting; for extension fracture, fix the fracture in less than 90 degree flexion position after resetting, so that the fracture is stable and does not affect the circulation of the hand. If the flexion position affects the circulation and the fracture is unstable after a little straightening, it can be fixed by percutaneous clinically crossed pins under the fluoroscopic view of TV Х-ray machine, plus external fixation in the appropriate flexion position with a plaster rest; it can also be treated by traction and fixed by plaster after the swelling is reduced.  2.Traction treatment is suitable for fracture more than 24-48h, with severe swelling of soft tissue, blister formation, and cannot be repositioned by manipulation, or the fracture is unstable after repositioning.  3.Open repositioning is applicable to those who fail to reposition manually; open fracture; fracture combined with vascular injury; bone discontinuity; fracture deformity connection or serious deformity of elbow inversion or valgus, and osteotomy is feasible for correction.  4, fracture combined with nerve injury First reset and fix the fracture, observe for 1 to 3 months, if there is no recovery, then perform nerve exploration and release or repair.  5, ischemic contracture The key is early diagnosis and prevention. For those who have 5 “P” signs, first reset the fracture and release the compression factors. If there is still no improvement, early exploration and repair of the vessels should be performed, and if necessary, interfascial compartment dissection and decompression should be performed.  The following is a patient of mine, Xue Moumou, 8 years old, who fell off an electric car 2 hours before admission and injured his elbow joint, resulting in swelling and pain, deformity and movement disorder. After treatment and continuous follow-up x-ray review, the fracture healed well, avoiding the trauma brought by surgery to the child.