A study of long term results of the use of proximal humeral locking plates (PHLP) for the fixation of proximal humerus fractures

Abstract

Background: Proximal humeral fractures are one of the commonest fractures in elderly population. They are right behind hip and distal radius fractures in incidence constituting about 1/7th of all fractures. Due to the debatable management of proximal humerus fractures in elderly population, we decided to evaluate the long term outcome of the same.Method: In this study 62 patients having proximal humerus fracture were included who were treated with locking plate fixation over a period of 4 years. Out of those patients, 51 patients who completed 3 years of follow up were evaluated for this study by using Constant Morley score (CMS). We used SPSS 16 for statistical analysis. (P 60 years age). Loss of fixation was seen more with a varus malalignment. Complications included Infection, avascular necrosis, loss of fixation, axillary nerve palsy, screw perforation of head and sub acromial impingement.Conclusion: The use of PHLP for fixation of Proximal Humerus fractures leads to reasonably good functional outcomes. It is much better than the use of non-locking plates. However the procedure requires extensive surgical skill and knowledge of mechanisms of locking plates.