Abstract: Aims and Objectives 1. To evaluate the clinical and functional outcome in Type 2 Radial head fracture treated with conservative management or operative management.
2. To study the complications, if any with radial head fracture fixation and conservative treatment.
Materials and Methods: 50 patients of Type 2 radial head fractures were treated either none operatively or by open reduction and internal fixation. 25 patients underwent conservative treatment and 25 patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation. Patients were divided into study groups by randomisation. Patients were followed up for a period of 6 months following their injury, and overall results were determined by using the Quick Dash scoring system. Institutional ethics committee approval was obtained before proceeding with this study.
Results: In our study, no statistically significant differences were found in the study groups in terms of age, sex, the side affected or mechanism of injury. Quick Dash scores were not found to vary significantly in either groups at 6 months. One patient in our study had a palsy of the posterior interosseous nerve following surgery.
Conclusion: The authors cannot recommend open reduction and internal fixation for type 2 radial head fractures, as conservative management in this study has shown to have equally good results without the possibility of complications of surgery.
