Original articleEpidemiology of clavicle fractures*
Section snippets
Material and methods
We examined the clinical records and radiographs of all patients who were treated at our hospital for a clavicle fracture between January 1990 and March 2001. To calculate the proportion of clavicle injuries with respect to all fractures in the shoulder girdle, fractures of the proximal humerus and scapula occurring in the same period were also recorded. Excluded from the study were all clavicle fractures associated with acromioclavicular or sternoclavicular dislocation or with other fractures
Results
Of 20,501 patients treated at our hospital for a fracture in the time interval under study, 533 (2.6%) had a clavicle fracture. Isolated clavicle fractures represented 44.1% of all fractures in the shoulder girdle. There were 362 men (67.9%), 2 of whom had a bilateral fracture, and 171 women (32.1%). The left side was involved in 60.7% of cases (P <.005).
The fractures were classified as group I in 435 cases (81.3%), group II in 89 cases (16.6%), and group III in 11 cases (2.1%). In group I the
Discussion
In previous reports providing epidemiologic data on clavicle fractures, no mention is made of whether the fractures scrutinized were isolated or associated with other fractures in the shoulder girdle. We limited our study to isolated fractures because they represent, from the etiopathogenetic and anatomic viewpoint, a homogeneous group of injuries.
In several studies,7, 9, 11, 15 which scrutinized a limited number of clavicle fractures, they represented 5% to 15% of all fractures. The incidence
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