Rafael Goecke¹, Pedro Lizama¹, Nazira Bernal^1,2, Orlando Callejas¹, Juan P Rieutord¹, Roberto Montegu¹, Cristian Aravena¹ and Felipe Reinares^1,2

¹Hospital Clínico Mutual de Seguridad C.Ch.C, Santiago, Chile ²Facultad de Medicina Clínica Alemana - Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile

*Corresponding Author: Felipe Reinares, Hospital Clínico Mutual de Seguridad C.Ch.C, Santiago, Chile.

Received: October 12, 2022; Published: October 22, 2022

Abstract

Background: Surgical treatment in clavicle fractures is becoming increasingly common. However, it is associated with complications and a significant number of reoperations, being implant removal the most frequent procedure. Our objective is to determine the implant removal rate, clinical outcomes and associated complications to surgical management in a hospital with a population subject to workers compensation.

Methods: Retrospective study of clinical and radiologic outcomes in a consecutive series of 230 clavicle fractures surgically treated with an anatomical plate between January 2013 and February 2019 at a Level V trauma center. Patients with previous ipsilateral shoulder fractures, follow-up of less than 6 months, use of complementary osteosynthesis and a history of glenohumeral infection were excluded. We studied the implant removal rate, functional outcomes, time to bone union, return to work and complications.

Results: 230 patients were analyzed with a mean age of 38.3 years (18-69 years). 91.7% of male gender and 90% located in middle third. Implant removal rate of 5.7% (13), due to symptomatic hardware (7), non-union (4), implant fracture (1) and refracture (1). Complication rate of 28.7% (78 in 66 patients), secondary to range of motion deficit (18.7%), perilesional hypoesthesia (3.9%) and chronic pain (3.5%), among others. An average time to bone union of 21 weeks and return to work of 27 weeks. Average range of motion at final follow up was 173º of anterior elevation, 169º of abduction and 81º of external rotation.

Conclusions: The implant removal rate in our series was lower than that reported in the literature, while the clinical results and complications were similar to those described in other series.

Keywords: Clavicular Fracture; Symptomatic Osteosynthesis; Plate; Non Union; Removal Rate

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Citation

Citation: Felipe Reinares., et al. “Hardware (Implant) Removal rate in Surgical Treatment of a Consecutive Series of 230 Clavicle Fractures". Acta Scientific Orthopaedics 5.11 (2022): 128-133.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Felipe Reinares.,et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.