Plate fixation of middle-third fractures of the clavicle in the semi-professional athlete

Abstract

From 1995 to 2003, 39 semi-professional athletes (34 men and 5 women) aged 17-34 years (mountain bike racers, soccer players, swimmers and cyclists) with a displaced fracture of the middle-third of the clavicle were treated operatively using rigid plate fixation within one week after the initial trauma. In 90% of the athletes, radiographic union was achieved after 12 weeks. At 6 weeks post-operatively the mean Constant score was 88 points, the mean visual analogue pain score was 3 out of 10 and the average time for return to sports was 45 days. Seventy-five percent of the patients were very satisfied with the end-result and 95% would chose to have the same operation again. In 5% of the cases the end-result was unsatisfactory. The most frequent postoperative complication was wound infection (18% of the cases). Nevertheless, this did not affect the outcome. Other postoperative complications in our athletic population included refracture (5%), transient neurological complications (7%) and non-union (5%), which were equally low in the literature. These data suggest that rigid plate fixation of middle-third clavicle fractures gives good results in the semi-professional athlete and may result in early return to sports activity, at the expense of a significant risk for complications, which would not be considered acceptable in patients with lower functional demands.