[Treatment of fractures of long tubular bones in children using a compression-distraction rod device]

The article deals with the treatment of fractures of the long tubular bones in children by means of a rod device produced by the M. I. Sitenko Kharkov Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics. It analyses some experience in the use of a compression-distraction rod device in 40 children (25 with fracture of the femur, 10 with fractures of the leg bones, 5 with fracture of the humerus). The advantages of rod devices over the other methods of treatment (pin apparatus, skeletal traction, intramedullary osteosynthesis) are shown, in the management of femoral fractures in particular. The authors consider the simplicity and easiness of the design and the possibility of rapid and bloodless installation and subsequent activation of the patient to be the main advantages of the rod device. The indications for application of the rod device were as follows: fractures which were difficult for reduction, open fractures, neglected fractures with the callus forming in improper position of the fragments, the need to perform an emergency operation on the viscera in polytrauma, delayed consolidation. Examples are given of successful treatment of patients 3 to 14 years of age. The method for applying the rod device is described as well as the possibility of expanding the volume of the reduction by using a reducing unit from the Volkov-Oganesyan apparatus together with a reducing unit from the apparatus. The possible complications which may occur in application of the apparatus and the means for overcoming them are discussed.