Operative and nonoperative treatment of clavicle fractures had similar outcomes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
SAN DIEGO — Results showed adolescent athletes with comminuted or severely shortened clavicle fractures had no significant differences in return to sports or patient-reported outcomes whether they were treated operatively or nonoperatively.
David D. Spence, MD, and colleagues compared athletes (aged 14 to 18 years) with comminuted or severely shortened clavicle fractures that were treated either operatively or nonoperatively.
“We defined severe shortening as greater than 25 mm of displacement,” Spence, of Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics, told Healio Orthopedics.
Researchers prospectively recorded patient demographics, injury mechanism, fracture characteristics and treatment. In addition, they analyzed complications, rate and level of return to sport, and patient-reported outcomes.
“We found no difference between the patients treated operatively vs. nonoperatively in terms of healing rates, complications, patient-reported outcomes, and the rate and level at which our patients returned to sport,” Spence said about results of a study presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.
According to Spence, it is important for orthopedic surgeons to determine which patients with comminuted or severely shortened clavicle fractures would benefit most from surgery as health care transitions toward a value-based model.
“We are going to design a prospective randomized study to drill down on some specific patient groups to see if we can detect a meaningful difference with surgery,” Spence said.
Collapse
Spence DD, et al. Paper 068. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. Aug. 31- Sept. 3, 2021; San Diego.
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts