When my brother broke his collarbone when he was 15, the doctor just wrapped him up in a sling until the arm healed. A few weeks ago, my son who is 14, broke his collarbone after he fell off his bike. The doctor says he needs surgery. His break didn’t seem any different than my brother’s but the doctor said they like operate now on these. Wouldn’t it be better just to wait and see?

It used to be that doctors would not do surgery for clavicle fractures (collarbone) if they seemed to be in line and there was not other apparent damage. It was felt that it wasn’t usually a big issue if the bones didn’t meet exactly together again, as long as the patient could once again use his or her arm properly.

What has happened, though, is the doctors have found that if the bone doesn’t join properly, malunion, this can cause problems in pain, mobility, and strength. As a result, they are starting to perform more surgery on collarbone fractures, particularly if they are displaced, where the ends of the bone have moved away from each other.