The effect of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic on the National Health Service in the United Kingdom has been profound and unprecedented with suspension of most elective surgeries. As we are emerging from lockdown now, restarting elective surgical procedures in a safe and effective manner is an expected challenge. Many perioperative factors including patient prioritisation, risk assessment, health infrastructure and infection prevention strategies need to be considered for patient safety. The British Orthopaedic Association, along with the National Health Service, have provided recent guidelines for restarting non-urgent and orthopaedic care in the United Kingdom. In this article we review the current guidelines and literature to provide some clarity for clinical practice.
Background:
Fractures of the clavicle account for 2.6% to 4% of all fractures. Operative management of displaced fractures of the midshaft clavicle is preferred due to better outcomes. Various plates are used for fixation of these fractures, which include reconstruction plates, dynamic compression plates, and precontoured locking plates. Very few studies have documented whether the proposed benefits of precontoured plates are realized in a clinical setting. In this study, we compared the outcomes and complications of displaced midshaft clavicular fractures fixed using precontoured and reconstruction plates.
Methods:
Patients with Robinson Type 2B fractures of the clavicle treated using reconstruction plates (46 patients) or precontoured plates (68 patients) were included in the study. Parameters such as duration of surgery, functional outcome at 6 mo, and occurrence of complications, such as nonunion, infection, hardware prominence, and overall reoperation rates, were compared between the two groups.
Results:
There was no significant difference in functional outcomes between the reconstruction plate group and precontoured plate group (Constant score: 85.23 vs. 86.75, respectively). However significantly higher rate of hardware prominence (32.6% vs. 7.3%, respectively), implant removal (15.2% vs. 2.9%, respectively), and reoperation (19.5% vs. 4.4%, respectively) was found with reconstruction plates compared to precontoured plates.
Conclusions:
The treatment of displaced midshaft clavicular fractures with either reconstruction plates or precontoured plates offers a return to excellent shoulder function. However, a significant decrease in duration of surgery, hardware prominence, and reoperation rate was seen with precontoured plates.
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