Postoperative chest radiograph after open reduction internal fixation of clavicle fractures: a necessary practice?

Iatrogenic pneumothorax is a rare but serious complication of open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of clavicular fractures. Many institutions use postoperative chest radiographs to evaluate for this complication despite a lack of data to support this routine practice. Due to concerns of radiation exposure and health care costs, this practice may not be necessary. This study determined the rate of iatrogenic pneumothorax after clavicular ORIF with plate fixation at a single institution over 8 years. We hypothesized that postoperative chest radiographs would identify a very low rate of pneumothorax in patients with isolated clavicular fractures with no serious preoperative pulmonary injury.

A retrospective review was performed identifying all patients undergoing clavicular ORIF with plate fixation at a single Level I trauma center by 3 board-certified orthopedic surgeons from 2009 to 2017. Patients without at least 1 postoperative chest radiograph were excluded. We determined patient demographics and rate of preoperative and postoperative pneumothorax.

We identified 89 patients without preoperative pneumothorax who underwent clavicular ORIF with at least 1 postoperative chest radiograph. Within this group, no patients (0%) had a new postoperative iatrogenic pneumothorax.

Within this series of 89 patients with isolated clavicular fractures without preoperative pneumothorax, no iatrogenic pneumothoraces occurred after plate fixation. Therefore, for patients undergoing ORIF of isolated clavicular fractures obtaining a postoperative chest radiograph may be an unnecessary practice, especially given their low sensitivity. Future high-powered studies are needed to validate this finding.