Do the Delay of the Treatment in the Pediatric Supracondylar Humerus Fractures Effect the Surgical Technique?

Objective: Supracondylar humerus fractures, the most common elbow fractures of childhood, often require surgical treatment. In addition to the fracture, the duration of the surgical treatment may be postponed when the general condition of the patient is inappropriate and in cases that affect anesthesia application. In pediatric patients, an infection of the upper respiratory tract often leads to this. In this study, it was aimed to determine whether the surgical technique was affected in case of delayed treatment due to upper respiratory tract infection. Materials and Methods: In this study, 60 children who were operated in our clinic between 2012– 2017 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups according to the time of operation as before or after 24 hours from first admission. The fixation was made with three lateral Kirshner wires or two lateral and one medial Kirshner wires. The surgical method was evaluated on postoperative clinical and radiological follow-up examinations. The results were statistically analyzed. Results: Of the patients, 39 were male and 21 were female. The mean age was 6.73 (2–9). At the time of admission, 43 patients were treated in the first 24 hours and the remaining 17 patients were operated after the first 24 hours. There were no statistically significant differences between the patients who received late surgical treatment and early treatment. Conclusion: Although good results can be achieved by late surgical interventions in patients with pediatric supracondylar humerus fractures, similar to those undergoing surgical treatment in the early period; applied surgical technique may be affected depending on the time period until surgical intervention.