Surgical treatment of sternum comminuted fracture with memory alloy embracing fixator

BACKGROUND: Sternal fracture can result from multiple types of severe chest trauma and carries significant risk. Surgical fixation is an effective method for sternal fracture. METHODS: The clinical data of patients with sternal fractures who presented to our hospital between August 2016 and July 2019 were collected. The 42 patients were divided into three groups, with 15 patients treated by internal fixation with NI-TI memory alloy embracing fixator, 10 patients receiving steel wire fixation, and 17 who received non-surgical treatment and who was designated as a control (conservative) group. Differences in clinical indices included the duration of surgery, blood loss, hospitalization, wound healing, hospitalization expenses, VAS scores, and patient satisfaction scores between the three groups was compared. The analysis of variance and t-test were used for quantitative variables, which were approximately normally distributed. Dichotomous data were compared used Pearson χ(2) or Fisher’s exact test, and a P value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: All patients were cured, and there were no significant differences in general clinical features between the three groups (P>0.05). Thoracic deformity in the surgical groups was corrected anatomically and received better pain scores, while patients in the NI-TI memory alloy embracing fixator group showed advantages of bleeding and patient satisfaction (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Operative treatment for a sternal fracture is safe, effective and can quickly restore the stability of the thorax. Memory alloy embracing fixator is markedly superior to other fixator materials.