Fixing fractures is child’s play for pioneer doc

Elrasheid Saed, orthopaedic and lead trauma surgeon at the L&D, developed the new approach to ‘supracondylar’ fractures, which account for 60 per cent of all elbow fractures in children between the ages of five and eight.

Such fractures are most commonly caused by a fall onto an outstretched hand, and the new technique cuts the operation time from three hours to just 30 minutes.

Traditionally, techniques to correct these fractures involve the use of traction and may also require open surgery to remedy the fracture using internal fixation methods.

But Mr Saed’s innovative technique involves a number of carefully developed and defined steps using manipulation to achieve a closed reduction of the fracture, and means a simpler operation and faster recovery.

‘Percutaneous pinning’ – done through the skin rather than using an open approach where the tissue is exposed – is then used before the child’s arm is put in a plaster cast and a sling to heal.

The technique is a first for the UK and Europe, and is believed to be the first proven technique in the world for mending this type of fracture.

Mr Saed said: “The benefits of the new technique include a reduced risk of infection as it is a closed technique, no traction required, a quicker operating time of around half an hour rather than three hours, a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery and fewer follow-up appointments.”

Now the method is being rolled out to hospitals across the country thanks to a partnership between the NHS and Health Enterprise East (HEE), a company that works with the NHS to help professionals develop innovative products and services to improve healthcare.

Tracy Coultas, an innovation manager at HEE said: “The film combines footage from an actual operation with 3D animation to demonstrate how the manipulation technique works.

“The film has already been incorporated into ‘medicalskills.net’, an online medical education resource where it is accessible to orthopaedic surgeons so they can view it and find out more about the technique.”