A Critical Analysis of Postoperative Complications of Antebrachium Ten-Nailing in 35 Children

Background:Unstable antebrachium diaphyseal fractures in children are nowadays increasingly treated operatively by elastic intramedullary nailing.Aim:Aim of the study was to critically assess both radiological and functional outcome of antebrachium fractures treated by titanium elastic nail (TEN) in a pediatric cohort.Material and Methods:This retrospective study investigated 75 consecutive children, who were treated for antebrachium shaft fractures at Tampere University Hospital during the time period from January 2001 to December 205. All the fractures were classified according to OTA. Thirty-five children (mean age 12.3 years) were treated by TEN-nailing. Twenty four of the forearm fractures were instable, five were open, five were re-fractures and one had ulnar nerve deficit. In all but one patient both forearm bones were fractured. Twelve (34%) operations were managed by closed reduction, open reduction was needed in 23 (66%) patients. In 29 cases both bones were fixed with TEN-nail. In the four pati...