Comparison of tension-band and figure-of-eight wiring techniques for treatment of olecranon fractures.
Two different internal fixation techniques for closed displaced fractures of the olecranon were evaluated at a mean of 18 years after injury. Thirty-two of the patients received tension-band wiring, and 35 received figure-of-eight wiring. There were 41 women (mean age, 52 years) and 26 men (mean age, 32 years) included. The results revealed that 80% of the patients had no subjective complaints, 16% had occasional pain, and 4% had daily pain. Comparison of the injured and uninjured elbows demonstrated a 3 degrees reduction of flexion (P <.05) and a 5 degrees loss of extension (P <.01). More than 50% of the fractured elbows had degenerative changes (joint space narrowing, subchondral cysts, subchondral sclerosis, and osteophytes) (P <.001), and 4 had osteoarthritis (P <.05). No subjective, objective, or radiographic differences were found when the two techniques were compared. Removal of the hardware was performed in 81% of the patients with tension-band wiring and in 43% of the patients with figure-of-eight wiring (P <.01). The figure-of-eight technique can, therefore, be recommended, as it is associated with less frequent secondary procedures for hardware removal.
Department of Orthopaedics and Radiology, Malmö University Hospital, USA. magnus.karlsson@orto.mas.lu.se
Magnus K
MK
Karlsson
Ralph
R
Hasserius
Jack
J
Besjakov
Caroline
C
Karlsson
Per Olof
PO
Josefsson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001864:Bone Wires; D002648:Child; D004551:Elbow Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D012086:Reoperation; D016896:Treatment Outcome