Surgical treatment of a nonunion following clavicle osteotomy in a child with a history of Erb's palsy: A case report.

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Erb's palsy defined as muscle weakness and loss of motion caused by a nerve condition in the shoulder and arm. Children with Erb's palsy might underwent clavicle osteotomy as an appropriate surgical treatment method. However, few number of these patients who underwent clavicle osteotomy experienced nonunion and complained of shoulder deformity and pain. The aim of the present case report was to present new surgical treatment of a nonunion following clavicle osteotomy in a child affected by Erb's palsy.

CASE PRESENTATION: A six years old boy with a history of Erb's palsy who underwent clavicle osteotomy at age of 6 months was referred to hospital. There was a nonunion following clavicle osteotomy. The patient had right shoulder deformity and complained of its-related pain. To correct a nonunion following clavicle osteotomy in this case, middle third fibula auto grafting and fixing it to the cite of clavicle nonunion by pins was used. After five months of follow-up, a clavicle nonunion and shoulder deformity was thoroughly corrected.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION: As clavicle osteotomy, the most commonly surgical method for Erb's palsy, has been demonstrated to not work effectively and cause nonunion in some cases, a new surgical method for correcting clavicle nonunion other than repeated clavicle osteotomy is needed. In the present case report, fibula auto grafting and fixing it to the cite of clavicle nonunion by pins was applied and demonstrated remarkable improvement.

CONCLUSION: Totally, use of fibula auto grafting and fixing it to the cite of clavicle nonunion by pins might be an effective surgical treatment for such cases.