Management of lateral end clavicle fractures-using lateral clavicle locking plate: a prospective study

Background: Lateral end clavicle fractures are one of the common upper limb fractures. They constitute 21–28% of all clavicle fractures. Of these 10–52% is displaced fractures. The management of fractures of lateral end clavicle remains debated and challenging. The objectivbe of this study is to evaluate the functional outcome following surgical treatment of unstable/displaced (Neer type II lateral clavicle fractures, and acromio-clavicular joint dislocations Rockwood grade III to V) lateral end clavicle fractures using lateral clavicle locking plate. Methods: It is a prospective study conducted in the orthopaedics department of GSL Medical College and General Hospital for a period of 3 years (April 2016 to March 2019) among a total of 60 patients. Results: About 23 (38.3%) belonged to 41–50 years age group, followed by 16 (26.7%) to 31–40 years age group and 13 (21.7%) to >51 years age group and 8 (13.3%) to 18–30 years age group. The time from trauma to surgery ranged from 0-15 days with a mean of 5 days and the mean operating time was 41 minutes ranging between 23-70 minutes. Mean duration to union was 13.33±2.126 weeks and the mean Constant Murley score was 88.56. Functional outcome at 6 months follow up was excellent in 8 (13.3%), good in 37 (61.7%), fair in 13 (21.7%) and poor in 2 (3.3%) patients. Conclusions: Although there is no consensus as to a “gold standard” fixation method for unstable distal clavicle fractures, satisfactory outcomes could be obtained using the lateral clavicle locking plate resulting in sufficient stabilization and good functional outcome.