• ABSTRACT
    • Management of children with supracondylar humeral fractures with pulseless pink hands is still controversial, whether to choose operative or conservative treatment. Proponents of conventional treatment mentioned that most patients can restore the motor and sensory function of the hand shortly after the injury without the need to restore distal pulse by surgery. Opponents of this treatment strategy claim that many patients will develop limb shortening a few years after the injury leading to functional and psychological problems. In this study, we made a comparison of the outcomes of each treatment to help in making policy for the treatment of such types of injuries in our center. This study answers the question "Which method is preferred for treating supracondylar humeral fracture with suspected vascular injury represented by pulseless pink hand, and what are the short and long-term outcomes of each treatment method. The main objective of the study is to settle a policy for the treatment of such types of injuries in our center. This study is a retrospective for the 10-year period from 2010 to 2020, it included 74 patients with blunt trauma to one upper extremity. All patients were children aged one year to fourteen years. Patients with penetrating trauma, combined penetrating and blunt trauma, victims of burns and explosions, and patients with other co-morbidities were excluded. We have two treatment strategies: Conservative (watchful waiting) and Operative exploration. We compared the outcomes of these two strategies regarding the short-term outcome (6 months follow-up) and the long-term outcome (5 years follow-up). We looked for acute and chronic limb ischemia and chronic pain syndrome as the short-term follow-up, while we took limb shortening and chronic limb ischemia and limb function as variables of the long-term follow-up. We don't have the ability to control patients for the psychological examination by a psychiatrist, therefore; we excluded this variable from our study.