We reviewed a series of fifty patients who had a non-union of a fracture
of the clavicle. Twenty-one patients (42 per cent) who had a symptomatic
non-union of the middle of the shaft of the clavicle were treated with open
reduction, internal fixation with a modified Hagie intramedullary pin, and
autogenous bone-grafting, and those patients form the basis for the report.
The average duration of follow-up was thirty-five months (range, five
months to eleven years). Healing occurred in twenty (95 per cent) of the
twenty-one patients. Intramedullary fixation has several advantages
compared with other treatments, such as fixation with a plate and screws.
It can be performed through a cosmetically acceptable incision in the
Langer line; less dissection of the soft tissues is needed; and, after
healing, the pin can be removed through a small incision under local
anesthesia.