Olecranon screw traction for displaced supracondylar fractures of the humerus in children

Twenty sir children with severely displaced supracondylar fractures were treated with closed reduction and vertical osseous tinction with an olecranon screw,. Four children required a second operation ill the form Of open reduction and K-wire fixation for failure to achieve a satisfactory reduction. After a mean follow, up of 48 weeks, 20 children (91 per cent) had an excellent result with no significant loss of movement. Two children (9 per cent) had minimal cubitus varus (av. 8 degrees) which did not require a corrective osteotomy. All forts children who had a second operation had all excellent result. The average hospitalisation time was 19 days. The method of olecranon screw traction is technically easy to perform and carries few risks of complications. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.