Significance of radiological quality of surgical reduction on the clinical outcome of intra-articular fractures of the distal humerus.

Objective: To study the effect of radiological quality of surgical reduction on the clinical outcome of the intra-articular fractures of the distal humerus.

Material And Method: Ninety seven intra-articular fractures of distal humerus were treated at our department by open reduction and internal fixation, using a trans-olecranon approach. Patients were assessed as per the scoring system of Caja and Moorani et al. At final follow-up, radiological and clinical parameters were evaluated to assess the effect of quality of surgical reduction on the clinical outcome of the patient.

Result: The mean radiological score was 15 points. Patients whose radiological score was 20 had excellent clinical result. Fractures which failed in one criteria, radiological score 15, had good to excellent clinical result. Fractures which failed in two criteria (score 10) failed to show any excellent clinical result. Correlation between radiological and clinical scores was statistically significant (P= 0.0000).

Conclusion: Severity of fracture affected radiological, functional and total score. Patients with higher radiological score had better functional outcome.