Cancellous Grafting Versus Corticocancellous Graft With Volar Locked Plating for Scaphoid Waist Fracture Nonunion: An Evaluation of Early Bony Bridging.

Background: Achieving bony union in scaphoid nonunion fractures is challenging. Various bone grafts have been studied using headless compression screws (HCS) fixation. However, the impact of bone graft choice on bone healing with volar locking plates (VLP) use is less clear. This study evaluates osseous bridging using packed cancellous grafting versus corticocancellous grafting when used during scaphoid waist nonunion repair with volar plating.

Methods: A retrospective case series was performed of 22 consecutive patients with a scaphoid waist fracture nonunions that were treated with VLP fixation and bone autografts. Inclusion criteria required ≥90-day follow-up clinical examination and postoperative computed tomography (CT) scan. Graft types included corticocancellous or packed cancellous autograft harvested from the radius or iliac crest. Amount of bone healing and presence of residual dorsal intercalated segmental instability were determined by 3 fellowship-trained hand surgeons.

Results: Twenty-two patients with scaphoid fracture nonunions that met study inclusion criteria were evaluated. Postoperative CT scan showed osseous bridging in 95% (21/22) of patients. Despite less time between surgery and the final follow-up CT scan (102.7 ± 59 days for packed cancellous autografts vs 133.6 ± 73 days for corticocancellous autografts), the packed cancellous autograft group displayed higher osseous bridging percentages compared with the corticocancellous graft (80.7% ± 17% vs 47.8% ± 35%, P = .013).

Conclusion: Nearly all patients displayed osseous bridging on postoperative CT scan with VLP and autograft use. However, study findings suggest that packed cancellous autograft use displayed more robust early healing.