Displaced supracondylar fractures of the elbow in children. A report on the fixation of extension and flexion fractures by two lateral percutaneous pins.

The orthopaedic service in Tunisia was opened in 1964 with 100 beds for a population of some five million people. Referrals included patients with Volkmann’s ischaemic contracture or with gangrene of the hand following supracondylar fracture of the humerus treated with the elbow in acute fiexion. It was thus incumbent upon us to develop a reliable method of treatment which would avoid these tragedies without blocking the limited bed space.