The operative treatment of mid-shaft clavicular non-unions

Ten consecutive patients with clavicular non-union were treated at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Sacramento, with compression-plating and iliac bone-grafting. Seven patients were male and three were female, and their ages ranged from sixteen to sixty years. All patients achieved clinical union by ten weeks postoperatively, with no operative or postoperative complications, and had a full, painless range of motion of the ipsilateral shoulder, with an acceptable cosmetic result. In our experience, patients with symptomatic clavicular non-union may be treated by open reduction and internal fixation with a compression plate and supplemental iliac-bone graft with a high likelihood of success.