European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Olecranon fractures are one of the most commonly seen orthopaedic injuries in the emergency room. Fractures of the Olecranon process of the Ulna typically occurs as a result of a motor-vehicle or motorcycle accident, a fall, or assault. The accepted management for Olecranon fractures is for Non-displaced fractures short immobilization followed by gradually increasing range of motion. and for displaced, transverse, oblique and comminuted, olecranon fractures Open reduction and internal fixation with k-wires and figure of eight tension band wiring is advocated and the above olecranon fractures can also be fixed with intramedullary cancellous screw with tension band wiring. The present study is undertaken to compare the results of both the surgical procedures, the merits and demerits of both techniques and also to asses elbow joint motion and stability after each procedure.
Methods: A prospective study conducted between June 2019 and September 2021, in the Department of Orthopaedics, Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Science, Ballari. In this study period 30 patients of olecranon fracture were studied in which 15 patients were operated with tension band wiring with K-wire and 15 patients were operated with tension band wiring with CC Screw. Results of both the groups were compared using Mayo elbow performance score.
Results: In our study, majority of the patients were males, middle aged, fall on elbow was the most common mode of injury. Most of the cases were Mayo type IIB fractures i.e., transverse or oblique fractures according to Colton’s classification. Surgery was performed within 3-4 average days. Union noted clinically and radiologically and functional evaluation was done by Mayo elbow performance score. In TBW with K-wire group 11(73%) patients had excellent results, 3(20%) patients had good results and 1(07%) patient had fair results. In TBW with CC screw group 10(67%) patients had excellent results, 4(26%) patients had good results and 1(07%) patients had fair results. There were no patients with poor results in both the groups.
Conclusions: From the present study it is concluded that using tension band wiring with K-wire and tension band wiring with CC screw for oblique or transverse olecranon fractures gives excellent results in majority of patients and both procedures are associated with superficial hardware prominence and superficial infections in some patients with no significant difference between the final outcome of two procedures.