Treatment of clavicle fractures

Abstract

Clavicle fractures are very common injuries in adults (2-5%) and children (10-15%) (1) and represent the 44-66% of all shoulder fractures (2). Despite the high frequency the choice of proper treatment is still a challenge for the orthopedic surgeon. With this review we wants to focus the attention on the basic epidemiology, anatomy, classification, evaluation and management of surgical treatments in relationship with the gravity of injuries. Both conservative and surgical management are possible, and surgeons must choose the most appropriate management modality according to the biologic age, functional demands, and type of lesion. We performed a review of the English literature thought PubMed to produce an evidence-based review of current concept and management of clavicle fracture. We finished taking a comparison with our survey in order to underline our direct experience.

Fig 1:

Xray shows a displaced middle third fracture of clavicle.

Fig 2:

ORIF with plate and screws of displaced middle third fracture of clavicle.

Fig 3:

Xray shows a K-wire fixation on middle third clavicle fracture and the migration of K-wire.

Fig 4:

Clinical and Xray images of floating shoulder.

Fig 5:

Intraoperative view of pseudo-aneurism of subclavian artery.

Fig 6:

Revision in ORIF of re-fracture involving the plate of previous fixation.