Preliminary clinical efficacy of percutaneous plate internal fixation with fracture reduction oriented forcep for lower humeral fractures

Objective To investigate the preliminary clinical efficacy of percutaneous plate internal fixation with fracture reduction oriented forcep in the treatment of lower humeral fractures. Methods A retrospective case control study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 46 patients with lower humeral fractures admitted to Wuzhong People's Hospital of Suzhou from October 2013 to March 2015. There were 25 males and 21 females, aged 19-76 years, with an average age of 45.7 years. A total of 22 patients (percutaneous group) were treated with minimally invasive percutaneous internal fixation with self-developed fracture reduction oriented forcep according to the dimensionality reduction method (DRM). The other 24 patients (control group) were treated with open reduction internal fixation. The length of incision, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, fracture healing time, the American Foot and Ankle Surgery Association (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score at the last follow-up, and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Results All patients were followed up for 12-24 months, with an average of 14.6 months. There were statistically significant differences between percutaneous group and control group in incision length [(7.1±0.8)cm vs. (8.8±0.7)cm, operation time [(32.5±4.9)min vs. (39.2±4.3)min], intraoperative blood loss [(8.0±2.7) ml vs. (31.0±11.4)ml], and fracture healing time (16.4±2.3)weeks vs. (19.5±2.9)weeks], respectively (all P 0.05). Poor wound healing was observed in one patient in control group. No case of nonunion was found in either group. Conclusion For lower humeral fractures, the percutaneous plate internal fixation with fracture reduction oriented forcep has the characteristics of simple operation, shortened operation time, reduced soft tissue injury and blood loss, and quick healing of the fracture, which is worthy of clinical application. Key words: Fibula; Fracture fixation, internal; Surgical procedures, minimally invasive; Fracture reduction forcep