Introduction:

Supracondylar humeral fractures in children are frequent injuries. The treatment of these injuries is generally a surgical one through closed or open reduction and placement of Kirschner wires.

Objective:

To update and provide information on Kirschner wire fixation in pediatric patients with supracondylar humeral fractures.

Methods:

The search and analysis of the information was carried out in a period of 61 days (September 1st to October 31st, 2022) and the following words were used: pediatric supracondylar humeral fractures AND pinning, pinning configuration, pinning loosening AND pediatric supracondylar fractures. To focus the search, the Boolean OR or AND operators were used as appropriate. Based on the information obtained, a bibliographic review of a total of 211 articles published in the PubMed, Hinari, SciELO and Medline databases was carried out using the search reference manager EndNote. Of which 38 selected citations were used to conduct the review, all from the last five years.

Results:

References are made to the types of Kirschner wire used for this kind of fracture fixation. The most widely used wire configurations are mentioned, such as two lateral wires followed by crossed fixation. The most frequent errors in the placement of the wires are exposed, in addition to the complications related to this surgical procedure.

Conclusions:

In general, supracondylar humeral fractures in children require surgical management. The closed reduction through the placement of percutaneous Kirschner wires, require specific technical knowledge.

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