Principles and fundamental concepts in the fixation of proximal humerus fractures through a locking plate

Abstract

Background: Proximal humerus fractures account for 5 % of all fractures, with an incidence rate of 63 cases per thousand adult individuals per year.They are often considerably displaced and communited in the elderly. About 75 % of these fractures occur in patient above the age of 60 years. The female to male ratio is about 3:1 and the incidence of this fracture increases with age. It is in these older patients, that the mechanism of injury is usually a low energy trauma. As majority of these fractures occur in the osteoporotic bone, the operative treatment with Philos plate has of now become the gold standard.Methods: A literature review of peer - reviewed publications related to the evaluation and management of proximal humerus fractures was performed. There was a focus on randomized controlled trials and an exploratory search in the Medline, PubMed, Embase database using the keywords “Proximal Humeral Fractures, locking plate, Philos, Delto- Pectoral approach was conducted.