Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2007 Feb;127(2):125-30.
doi: 10.1007/s00402-006-0240-4. Epub 2006 Oct 26.

Radial head fractures: effectiveness of conservative treatment versus surgical intervention. A systematic review

P A A Struijs  1 , G Smit, E Ph Steller
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Radial head fractures: effectiveness of conservative treatment versus surgical intervention. A systematic review

P A A Struijs et al. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2007 Feb.

Abstract

Introduction: Radial head fractures are common elbow fractures. The Mason classification is used to describe the fracture. As of yet, there is no consensus on optimal treatment strategy for Mason II-IV fractures. The aim of this study was to compare the results of conservative treatment with different surgical strategies for radial head fractures.

Materials and methods: Electronic databases from 1966 to 2004 were screened. Based on our inclusion criteria, 24 studies, describing 825 patients, were included.

Results: For Mason type II fractures, residual pain was present in 42% of the conservatively treated of the patients compared to 32% of the surgically treated patients. Good/excellent results for Broberg score were 52 and 88%, respectively. For Mason type III and IV fractures, no conservatively treated patients were described.

Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence to be able to draw definitive conclusions on optimal treatment of type II-IV radial head fractures. Evidence is currently limited to a maximum level II evidence. There is great need for sufficiently powered randomized controlled trials.

PubMed Disclaimer