• Soo Min Cha, Jong Woo Kang, Hyun Dae Shin, and Cheol Won Lee.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Regional Rheumatoid and Degenerative Arthritis Center, Chungnam National University Hospital, Chungnam National University School of Medicine, 266 Munwha-ro, Jung-Gu, Daejeon, Korea.
• Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2022 Nov 1; 142 (11): 3229-3237.

BackgroundWe hypothesized that the outcomes of articular reduction with elimination of irreducible articular intercalary fragments for Mayo type IIB fractures fixed using olecranon locking plates would be as satisfactory as those of noncomminuted fractures.MethodsA total of 65 patients were enrolled from among 92 who had undergone operative treatment for olecranon fractures between March 2008 and February 2015. Patients with fragments that were eliminated because they were too comminuted to be fixed during surgery (type IIB) were included in group 1. Patients without intraarticular comminuted fragments (type IIA) or with very few fragments were assigned to group 2. In group 1, articular congruency and reduction status were confirmed by direct visualization. The fracture was then fixed with a locking plate and irreducible intercalary fragments were eliminated.ResultsThere were no significant differences in demographic characteristics, such as age and gender, between the two groups. Both groups achieved bony union within the approximately 6-year follow-up period and there were no serious complications in either group. The grades of heterotrophic ossification and ulnohumeral arthritis were not significantly different between the groups. The mean flexion-extension and pronation-supination arcs were similarly satisfactory in both groups (127.35° and 134.39° vs. 129.69° and 133.75° in groups 1 and 2°, respectively). Clinical outcomes including visual analog scale pain scores, as well as the Mayo Elbow Performance scores (87.73 vs. 88.28 in groups 1 and 2, respectively), were also similarly satisfactory in both groups.ConclusionsLocking plate fixation under direct visualization (to reduce the articular surface in Mayo type IIB fractures) and elimination of articular intercalary fragments resulted in satisfactory radiologic and clinical outcomes, similar to those of noncomminuted fractures also treated using a locking plate.Level Of EvidenceLevel IV, Retrospective therapeutic study.© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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