Etiological factors which produced 77 cases of non-unions examined and treated at Orthopedic Department, the National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea in the years 1959 through 1967 were analyzed based mainly upon -the statements of the histories of the patients.
This analysis thought to be of interest and to give some view for treatment of fractures in the future in :Korea.
The material consists of 29 for femur, 17 for tibia, 10 for humerus, nine for radius, seven for ulna and five for fibula.
Of 77 cases of non-unions established in the different long bones, 51 cases were treated by physicians, included 23 cases of operative treatment, five cases were treated by bone-setters and seven ´cases were treated by specialists. The rest of seven cases had no treatments at all.
54 cases had their initial treatments within 24 hours, 10 cases had treatment from one to seven days and .six cases had treatment more than one week after they sustained fractures. As to their external immobilizations 18 out of 51 cases treated by physicians, all of seven cases treated by bone-setters had unsatisfactory ,external immobilization. All of seven cases treated by specialists had satisfactory external immobilizations.
Average durations of external immobilization for fracture of the femur were three months by physicians, two months by bone-setters and four months by specialists and that for fracture of the tibia and humerus were three months by physicians and one and half months by bone setters.
36 cases were closed fractures, 28 were open fractures and 13 were unknown type of fractures according -to the medical records. Altogether 68 cases had unsatisfactory external immobilization, included 38 cases of Infections and 22 of other complications after operations.
27 of non-unions seemed to be established exclusively by poor external immobilization, 21 were established .by combination of poor immobilizations and infections, and 14 were established with additional combination of other complications after operations.
Ages gave no influence for the establishment of the non-unions in this series.
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