Evaluation of postoperative complication after PHILOS plating for treatment of displaced proximal humerus fractures

Abstract

Objective: Evaulation of the complications from surgical treatment using a proximal humerus locking plate among patients with fractures of the proximal humerus. Methods: This is a non Randomised Retrospective and Prospective study carried out from 1 July 2017 to 30 December 2018. In this study a cohort of 30 patients from this institute and other hospital, all skeletally matured patients aged 18 years and above with proximal humerus fractures with two, three, four part fracture were treated using the PHILOS plate. There were 19 male patients and 11 female patients, with a mean age of 49.5 years (range: 18 to 81 years). All the cases had a mean postoperative follow up period of 15 months. Eight fractures were classified as presenting in two parts, 13 as three, 9 as four. Results: In this study, twelve were considered to have achieved excellent results, nine good, eight fair and one poor, according to the UCLA score. In our study of PHILOS plating most common complication was varus malunion and least common complication was implant failure. Conclusion: The functional results from treating fractures of the proximal extremity of the humerus using a locking plate depended on correct anatomical reduction of the fracture and stable fixation of the implant. Complications still occur frequently, particularly because of intraoperative technical difficulty, fracture severity and possible inexperience of the surgeon.