• Avijeet Prasad, Puneet Mishra, Aditya N Aggarwal, Manish Chadha, Rohit Pandey, and Rahul Anshuman.
• Department of Orthopedics, UCMS and GTB Hospital, New Delhi, India.
• Indian J Orthop. 2018 Sep 1; 52 (5): 548-553.

BackgroundComparision of results and complications of exposed versus buried Kirschner wires (K-wires) after open reduction of lateral condyle fractures is scarce and mainly from western population; hence, we envisaged to study the safety and efficacy of exposed and buried K-wires used for fixation of displaced pediatric fracture of the lateral condyle of humerus in Indian setup.Materials And MethodsA prospective, nonrandomized, comparative study was conducted in 50 patients with age <12 years, presenting with displaced fracture of lateral condyle of humerus of <2 weeks duration, without associated ipsilateral upper limb injury, who were treated by open reduction and internal fixation with either exposed or buried K-wires (n = 25 in each group). At a minimum followup of 3 months, status of fracture reduction, union, evidence of osteomyelitis, carrying angle at the elbow, and elbow range of motion (ROM) were assessed clinicoradiologically.ResultsFour (16%) patients in exposed group and 1 (4%) in buried group had superficial infection, while 3 (12%) patients in exposed group and 2 (8%) in buried group had deep infection. All the patients with infection responded well to oral antibiotics and regular dressings. Buried group had higher incidence of secondary skin and wire-related complications.ConclusionThere was no statistical difference between the two groups but exposed K wires are easy to remove so are preferred over buried K wires.

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