Results after Treatment of Displaced Midshaft Fractures of the Clavicle with the Contoured Clavicle Plate

OBJECTIVE: There are controversial discussions about the operative treatment of displaced midshaft fractures of the clavicle. While some authors still prefer a conservative treatment, latest studies showed in many cases better results for operatively treated fractures compared with the conservative. The functional outcome and complications after plate and screw fixation of dislocated midshaft fractures of the clavicle should be analyzed and compared to international studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From January 2005 up to December 2006 a retrospective inspection on 71 patients with displaced midshaft fractures of the clavicle has been carried out. All of these patients were treated by open reduction and internal fixation with the contoured clavicle plate, a new preformed titanium implant. 53 patients (75 %) completed the follow-up. The average time of follow-up was 11.5 months (range 2 to 43 months). The patients were evaluated by two standard scores (DASH-Score, Constant-Score). RESULTS: The clinical results can be rated as very good. The average results were 91.98 using the Constant Score measure (range 60-100) and 11.87 for the DASH measure (range 0-50). 91 % of the results based on the Constant-Score method were very high with 72 % excellent and 19 % good. The complication rate was 12.7 %. There were two pseudoarthroses, one implant failure (Fig. ), two superficial infections and one haematoma. CONCLUSION: The results of this study are promising and comparable to the latest studies regarding the operative treatment of displaced midshaft fractures of the clavicle. The contoured clavicle plate is a suitable implant for the fracture care of the clavicle.