6.5 mm cancellous screw with washer vs tension band wiring for fractures of the olecranon

Abstract

Background: Olecranon fractures are one of the most commonly seen orthopaedic injuries in the emergency room. The K-wire which is used in the AO Tension Band Wiring (TBW) technique resists the shear better than the figure of eight wire alone, but, it does not add compression to the fixation strength. But, the cancellous screw provides the strength of fixation i.e., by converting the tensile force to a compressive force at the fracture site, with additional resistance to the displacement due to the lag screw compression Objective. To clinically evaluate the result of the 6.5 mm cancellous screw with washer V/s tension band wiring for fractures of the olecranon. . To assess the elbow joint motion and stability after the procedure.Material and Methods: sixteen cases of fractures of the olecranon which were treated by using 6.5mm AO cancellous screws with a screw length of 80-105mm and 6.5 mm washer and 18 cases are treated with a 16 gauge TBW, were evaluated. All the cases were followed up and the results were analyzed by using a 19 point scale. Results: Excellent results were achieved with 6.5mm CCS with Washer in 13 (38.23%) patients while with TBW K wire 12(35.29%) patients, good results were achieved with 6.5mm CCS with Washer in 2 (5.88%) patients while with TBW K wire 4(11.76%) patients fair results were achieved 6.5mm CCS with Washer in 1 (2.94%) patients while with TBW K wire 2(5.88%) patients There were no poor results Conclusion: The technique of close reduction and internal fixation with 6.5 mm CCS is better than open reduction and internal fixation with TBW.