What is the postoperative care for a clavicle fracture?

  The clavicle is S-shaped between the sternal stalk and the acromion and is the only bony scaffold connecting the upper limb to the trunk. The clavicle is subcutaneous and superficial, and is susceptible to fracture when subjected to external forces, accounting for 5%-10% of all fractures. It occurs mostly in children and young adults.  How to take care of the clavicle fracture after surgery?  1, life conditioning Sleep on a hard bed, keep the bed sheets clean and comfortable. Since the patient’s ability to take care of himself is reduced, he should be given the necessary help in daily life, and family members should assist in eating, defecating, bathing and physical activities. Tops should be loose and warm, pants should be elastic, and slippers should be worn for easy on and off. Take regular rest and rest breaks to ensure a regular lifestyle, with outdoor activities during the day. Patients can participate in the work that they can do.  2. Special care Patients with external fixation should check their fixation frequently: to maintain effective fixation and not to consult a doctor, as long as the external fixation is opened, the patient will be relieved, but he/she should not remove the external fixation at will.  Maintain a positive lying position: after the fracture is fixed, it is possible to lie in a semi-recumbent or supine position with a narrow pillow between the two scapulae to make the two shoulders extend and abduct, which is conducive to maintaining a good reset. This lying position is uncomfortable and inconvenient after a long period of time. At this time, others can assist in getting up and moving around, but it is impossible to change the lying position casually, especially children should be patient and reason, give comfort, encouragement and help, and obtain cooperation to prevent the reset from failing and causing more pain. After fixation, you should try to get out of bed and do what you can, such as personal cleaning and hygiene, living and living, etc., in order to help exercise the function of the limbs.  Prevention and treatment of complications: prevent the occurrence of nerve and vascular compression symptoms, closely observe the blood circulation and nerve compression in the upper limb after fixation of the octagonal bandage, if the skin color of the injured limb becomes purple and the limb becomes numb, go to the doctor in time to adjust the fixation according to the situation.  The purpose of functional exercise after clavicle fracture fixation is to increase the local blood circulation, accelerate the repair of the surrounding soft tissue injury, and prevent complications such as muscle atrophy and joint stiffness of the upper limb. After fixation, you can start to practice hand clenching, wrist extension, flexion and rotation, elbow flexion and extension, and shoulder posterior extension activities. After the external fixation is removed, you can start to practice shoulder forward flexion, shoulder rotation, and rowing movement of both arms, with the range of activities from small to large and the number of times from small to large.  The range of motion should be small and the number of times should be small. It is important to insist on the exercise, not to let it go and not to be too impatient, and the range of motion and strength should be gradual. During the period of internal fixation or external fixation, it is forbidden to do the forward flexion and internal flexion of the shoulder joint.  4.Post-operative review The time and number of review should be decided according to the fixation method. 4 weeks after the surgery, and 1-2 times in the first week for the eight bandage fixation, and every 2 weeks thereafter, until the fracture heals. Keep the X-ray film taken for each review for reference of the healing of the fracture, and be accompanied by a family member by car to the hospital.