Flexible intramedullary nailing had better outcomes than kirschner wire fixation in children with distal humeral metaphyseal-diaphyseal junction fracture: a retrospective observational analysis

The effectiveness evaluation of flexible intramedullary nailing (FIN) and kirschner wire fixation (K-wire) used for MDJ fractures fixation have been described in multiple reports. But there have been few reports about comparison between FIN and K-wire in children with distal humeral MDJ fracture. In our retrospective study, Nineteen children received K-wire and twenty children received FIN, during the follow-up, six children in the K-wire group and one children in the FIN group was found to have postoperative cubitus varus; fixation method was an independent risk factor for postoperative cubitus varus (P = 0.001), fixation methods contributed significantly to operation time (t = 6.519, P < 0.001), surgical blood loss (t = 5.349, P < 0.001) and postoperative fracture healing time (t = 4.940, P < 0.001). We can conclude that FIN was related with lower incidence of postoperative cubitus varus, shorter operation time, less surgical blood loss and shorter fracture healing time compared to K-wire in children with MDJ fractures of the distal humerus.