Floating Elbow in Children: a Descriptive Study of 31 Cases Attended in a Reference Center for Pediatric Trauma

OBJECTIVE To conduct a descriptive analysis on 31 cases of children with floating elbow who were attended at our clinic between 1994 and 2009, and to review the literature relating to this topic. METHODS Data were obtained through examining the medical records. The following variables were used: age, gender, side, mechanism, type of fracture, classification, treatment and complications. RESULTS Twenty-four patients (77.4%) were male and seven (22.6%) were female. The mean age was 8.5 (± 3.2) years, ranging from one to 14 years. The left side was predominantly affected (67.7%). The commonest injury mechanism was a fall from a height (74.2%). All the supracondylar fractures were Gartland type III. Distal radius fractures alone, of Salter-Harris type II, were diagnosed in 22 patients (71%). Open fractures occurred in 22 cases (71%). Closed reduction and application of a plaster cast for a closed fracture of the distal radius was performed in two patients (6.45%). Simultaneous conservative treatment for two fractures was not used. Sixteen supracondylar fractures (54.8%) were fixed using crossed wires, at 90° to each other, and in 14 cases (45.16%), an intramedullary wire was used together with another wire introduced through the lateral epicondyle at 45°. The following complications were observed: deformed consolidation (10%), nerve injuries (6%), compartment syndrome (3%) and pin path infection (16%). CONCLUSIONS This is an uncommon injury that in most cases results from high-energy trauma. Surgical treatment for both fractures is recommended by most authors. Ulnar nerve injuries were correlated with the fixation method, but no neurological injuries were triggered by the initial trauma.