Treatment of distal clavicle nonunion with and without bone grafting

Abstract

The management of distal clavicle nonunion represents a challenging task for orthopaedic trauma surgeon. Both the choice of the implant and whether a bone graft is needed are controversial points which must be addressed. Particularly, in the case of a hypertrophic nonunion, grafting may not necessarily be needed, but given a poor underlying biological environment, a bone graft becomes necessary in order to enhance fracture healing. We report the case of a 62-year-old patient who came to us with a hypertrophic nonunion of the left distal clavicle. She was initially treated with a hook plate without bone grafting. After an early peri-implant fracture she was treated again with anatomical S-shaped locking plate associated with autologous cancellous bone graft.

Keywords: Autologous bone graft; Cancellous bone graft; Distal clavicle nonunion; Hook plate; Hypertrophic nonunion; Peri-implant fracture.