Article

This study was designed to compare the biornechanical stability of a two-plate distal humerus fixation with and without Kirschner-wire (K-wire) augmentation of supracondylar osteotomies. Design: Ex vivo paired cadaveric Study. Setting: Biomechanical laboratory. 21 Materials: Five pairs of fresh, elderly cadaveric humeri. Intervention: Two 3.5-mm reconstruction plates were used to stabilize each humerus. This fixation model was selected solely to evaluate the effect of K-wire augmentation. Augmentation consisted of 2 K-wires placed in both the medial and lateral columns of the humerus to interdiaitate with the plate screws. A posteriorly directed load was cyclically applied to the distal fragment for 5000 cycles or until failure, and osteotomy site motion was tracked optically. Main Outcome Measurements: Fixation survival was defined as 5000 cycles or the number of cycles until osteotorny site motion reached > 2 mm. Results: K-wire auamented fixations survived significantly more cycles than did controls (4410 +/- 875 vs. 1114 +/- 2 182, respectively; paired t test, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Augmentation with K-wires may decrease the incidence of loss of fixation in distal humeral fractures.

Langue : ANGLAIS

Tiré à part : OUI