A clinical study of surgical management of olecranon fractures - a prospective observational study

Abstract

Background: Olecranon fractures are one of the most commonly seen orthopaedic injuries in the emergency room. Fractures of the Olecranon process of the Ulna typically occurs as a result of a motor-vehicle or motorcycle accident, a fall, or assault. The accepted management for Olecranon fractures is for Non displaced fractures short immobilization followed by gradually increasing range of  motion. When displaced ,Open reduction and internal fixation with k-wires and figure of eight tension band wiring for simple transverse fractures  and  olecranon hook plate for comminuted fractures. Aim & Objective: The present study is undertaken to evaluate the results of surgical management, the merits and demerits and to asses elbow joint motion and stability after the procedure.Materials and Methods: It is a prospective studywhich was carried out from General Hospital attached toMedical College. In this study period of 25 cases of fracture olecranon treated by Tension band wiring with Kirshner wire for Simple transverse fractures and Olecranon hook plate for Communited fractures. Results: In our series, majority of thepatients were males, middle aged, with road traffic accident being the commonest mode of injury, Most of the cases wereType II B fractures i.e., oblique and transverse fractures according to Colton’s classification Surgery was performed with in 3.48 average days, Unionwas noted clinically and radiologically and functional evaluation was done by Mayo elbow performance score. Excellent results were present in 18 patients(72%),4(16%)good and 3(12%)fair with no poor results.Conclusion: From the present study it is concluded that the technique of open reduction and internal fixation with Kirschner wires and tension band wiringfor simple transverse and oblique fractures and olecranon plate fixation for comminuted fractures are effective means and gold standard technique of treating fractures of olecranon and is based on sound biomechanical principle.

Keywords:  Olecranon fractures, Tension band wiring, Olecranon hook plate, Open reduction and internal fixation.