Infection after clavicle fractures.

Currently there are no reported series on the treatment of patients cared for after infection of their clavicular fractures. Therefore, our purpose in doing this study was to review patients who were treated for infection after clavicle fractures at our institutions between 1995 and 2001 to determine the organisms responsible for infection, the union rates, and the functional results. During this period, six patients were treated for infection after a clavicular fracture. Five patients had a postoperative infection after attempts at open reduction and internal fixation. One patient had an infection after her nonunion eroded through the skin. Four patients presented 3 months or fewer from the time of injury/surgery. Three patients had a polymicrobial infection and three patients had single-organism infections. Infection may be acute or significantly delayed from the time of the initial surgical procedure. Among those patients with continued nonunions despite surgical intervention, late infection should be suspected. In this series only two patients with infected clavicles went on to bony union. The surgeon should be aware of the extreme difficulty in treating this complication and its poor prognosis.