The combination of ipsilateral humeral fractures at three different levels namely proximal, shaft and supracondyle has been rarely defined in the literature. We present a case report on such a complex injury in a 10-year-old child after falling down from the second floor of his house while playing. To the best of our knowledge, no such case report exists in the English literature. We define it as double floating arm injury. Firstly, shaft of humerus was open reduced and fixed with 4.5 mm narrow dynamic compression plate. Then closed reduction and pinning of the supracondylar humerus under an image intensifier was obtained. Open reduction using deltopectoral approach to the proximal humerus was done and the fracture was fixed with three K-wires. Ipsilateral multiple fractures in children often result from high energy trauma. Immediate reduction and fixation is required. Usually surgeons need to treat simple fractures firstly, which makes the subsequent treatment of complex fractures easier.
Child ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; complications ; Male ; Shoulder Fractures ; complications

Although fracture of the humeral shaft or dislocation of the shoulder joint is a common injury, a simutaneous injury is rare. We present such a case combined with head injury which took precedence over the skeletal injuries. The postoperative rehabilitation was slowed down by the head injury. This case report makes us aware of some problems when managing the patient with this rare injury and helps us understand the management options better. Also the need for proper follow-up and rehabilitation is emphasized.
Adult ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; complications ; Fracture Fixation, Internal ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; complications ; surgery ; Male ; Shoulder Dislocation ; complications

Neurapraxia frequently occurs following traction injury to the nerve intraoperatively, leading to radial nerve palsy which usually recovers in 5-30 weeks. In our case, we had operated a distal one-third of humeral shaft fracture and fixed it with 4.5 mm limited contact dynamic compression plate. The distal neurovascular status of the limb was assessed postoperatively in the recovery room and was found to be intact and all the sensory-motor functions of the radial nerve were normal. On the second postoperative day, following the suction drain removal and dressing, patient developed immediate radial nerve palsy along with wrist drop. We reviewed the literature and found no obvious cause for the nerve palsy and concluded that it was due to traction injury to the radial nerve while removing the suction drain in negative pressure.
Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Radial Neuropathy ; etiology

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography ; Shoulder Dislocation ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; therapy

OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical effect of lateral locking compression plate combined with medial buttress plate in treating osteoporotic comminuted fractures of proximal humerus. METHODS: From May 2017 to December 2021, 12 patients with osteoporotic comminution of proximal humerus were treated by lateral locking compression plates combined with medial buttress plates, including 5 males and 7 females, aged from 55 to 78 years old, bone mineral density(BMD) less than -2.5 g/cm3, the time from injury to operation was from 2 to 6 days. According to Neer classification, 7 patients were type Ⅲ, 4 patients were type Ⅳ and 1 patient was type Ⅵ. Postoperative complications, fracture healing and internal fixation were observed and Constant-Murley score of shoulder joint was used to evaluate clinical effects at 6 months after operation. RESULTS: Postoperative wound healed well at stage I. All patients were followed up from 6 to 18 months. Humeral head collapse and necrosis occurred in 1 patient and humeral head varus in 1 patient. No impact of shoulder joint, internal fixation loosening occurred. Constant-Murley score at 6 months ranged from 45 to 90 points, and 6 patients got excellent result, 3 good, and 3 poor. CONCLUSION Locking compression plate combined with medial buttress plate could effectively reconstruct medial humeral column support and enhance fracture stability, and receive satisfactory clinical results. However, no control group was established in this study, and function of shoulder joint has not been evaluated many times after operation, so it cannot dynamically reflect changes of shoulder joint function.
Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Bone Plates/adverse effects* ; Fracture Fixation, Internal/methods* ; Fractures, Comminuted/surgery* ; Humeral Fractures/complications* ; Humeral Head ; Humerus ; Shoulder Fractures/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome ; Osteoporotic Fractures/surgery*

INTRODUCTIONThe failure of a humeral fracture to unite after surgical treatment may be due to many factors. When there are additional complications of infection, treatment by conventional methods of internal fixation becomes very difficult.

MATERIALS AND METHODSWe treated 8 infected non-union of diaphyseal fracture of the humerus by the Orthofix external fixator. All had previous surgical treatment. Non-union followed plating in 6 cases and in 2 cases after the external fixator. All patients had pain, at least one sinus discharging pus and severe functional impairment of the affected arm. There were 6 men and 2 women with a mean age 40.6 years.

RESULTSBone union was achieved in all cases. The mean time to union was 4.5 months (range, 2 to 8). Patients expressed high levels of satisfaction with the outcome, despite relatively modest improvement in pain and function, mainly because of long standing infection and intractable non-union. There were no major pin tract problems requiring the removal of the Schanz screws. Radial nerve palsy developed in 1 patient who recovered spontaneously. No patient required an additional bone grafting procedure.

CONCLUSIONThe use of the Orthofix external fixator without bone grafting was successful in the treatment of infected non-union of the humeral shaft. It shortened the duration of hospitalisation and immobilisation with moderate functional recovery.

Adult ; Bacterial Infections ; complications ; External Fixators ; Female ; Fractures, Ununited ; complications ; surgery ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; complications ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Failure ; Young Adult

The outward angulation of elbow with supinated forearm is cubitus varus deformity. This deformity is often seen as sequelae of malunited supracondylar fracture of humerus in paediatric age group of 5e8 years. The deformity is usually non-progressive, but in cases of physeal injury or congenital bony bar formation in the medial condyle of humerus, the deformity is progressive and can be grotesque in appearance. Various types of osteotomies are defined for standard non-progressive cubitus varus deformity, while multiple surgeries are required for progressive deformity until skeletal maturity. In this study we described a novel surgical approach and osteotomy of distal humerus in a 5 years old boy having grotesque progressive cubitus varus deformity, achieving good surgical outcome.
Child, Preschool ; Elbow Joint ; injuries ; Fractures, Malunited ; complications ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; complications ; Humerus ; surgery ; Joint Deformities, Acquired ; surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Osteotomy ; methods

PURPOSE: To evaluate the time to bone union after open reduction and internal fixation with cerclage cables followed by intramedullary nailing (IMN) for unstable humeral shaft fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with a humeral shaft fracture treated by IMN were enrolled. One group of patients was treated via open reduction and internal fixation with cables followed by IMN (cable group; n=32), while the other group was treated with a conventional closed IMN (non-cable group; n=64). The length of time to bone union and functional scores [Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) scores] were measured for all patients. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in terms of age, gender, injury type, or smoking history between the two groups, except for the type of fracture. The cable group had significantly more complex types of fracture than the non-cable group (p<0.001). The mean time to bone union was 3.9 months in the cable group, while in the non-cable group, it was 4.4 months (p=0.041). The incidence of postoperative complications, such as non-union, delayed union, and radial nerve palsy, was similar between the two groups (p>0.05). No differences were identified in terms of DASH and UCLA scores (28.8 and 32.1 in the cable group and 26.4 and 32.6 in the non-cable group, respectively; p=0.335 and 0.264). CONCLUSION: In unstable humeral shaft fractures treated by IMN, open reduction and internal fixation with additional cerclage cables do not delay the length of time to bone union or increase the rate of other complications.
Arm ; California ; Fracture Fixation ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; Hand ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; Incidence ; Paralysis ; Postoperative Complications ; Radial Nerve ; Shoulder ; Smoke ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: We described a surgical method for osteosynthesis and reported the resultant strength after application of a PHILOS plate through the anterolateral approach for the treatment of fractures of the distal humerus. METHODS: Between February 2010 and March 2012, open reduction and internal fixation operations with the PHILOS plate for treatment of fracture of the distal humerus were performed on a total of nine patients (five men, four women). The mean age was 40.8 years (range, 24-50 years), and the average follow-up period was 9.1 months (range, 6-15 months). Clinical evaluations were performed 6 months after the operation. Clinical assessment included determination of the range of motion of the elbow, the Mayo and Oxford elbow scores, and any postoperative complications. RESULTS: Fracture union was noted in all patients, with an average period of 12.4 weeks. The average Mayo elbow and Oxford elbow scores were 87.2 (of a total of 100) and 43.3 (of a total of 48), respectively. For the postoperative range of motion of the elbow, all patients showed complete recovery to the preoperative range of motion. No other conditions, such as neurolepsis, plate breakage, or rotational deformity, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Open reduction and internal fixation of distal humerus fractures with a PHILOS plating system via anterolateral approach can be effective. A high rate of union with good outcomes can be assumed.
Congenital Abnormalities ; Elbow ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fracture Fixation ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; Humerus* ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; Range of Motion, Articular

OBJECTIVETo discuss the treatment methods of humeral supracondylar fracture in children with neurovascular complications.

METHODSNinety-six children (59 males, 37 females) with humeral supracondylar fractures were treated by surgery from February 2002 to November 2007, with the mean age of 6.4 years old (ranged from 4 to 16 years). Seventeen symptoms of nerve damage occurred in 16 cases, including radial nerve injury in 5 cases,median nerve injury in 7 cases,of which 1 cases with ulnar nerve injury, ulnar nerve injury in 5 cases; 13 patients had symptoms of vascular injury such as pulse weakness and hands coldness. The patients accompanied by nerve, blood vessel injury symptoms were all treated with open reduction and internal fixation.

RESULTSEighty-five patients were followed up with an average duration of 11 months(ranged from 6 to 18 months). Seventy-three patients had incision healing at the first stage and other 12 patients had incision healing at the second stage. All the 85 patients had no complications such as incision infection and functional disturbance of elbow joint. Among 5 patients with radial nerve injury, 3 patients had symptoms disappeared completely at 3 months after operation; one patient underwent exploration lysis at 3 months after operation and the symptoms disappeared at 5 months after operation; another 1 patient with iatrogenic injury of radial nerve had nerve function recovered at 3 months after releasing plaster compression. Among 7 patients with median nerve injury, 6 patients had nerve function recovered completely at 6 months after operation; another 1 patient combined with ulnar nerve injuries had nerve function recovered at 9 months after exploring of nerve at the second stage. Five patients with ulnar nerve injury had nerve function recovered completely at 6 months after operation. Preoperative symptoms of radial artery pulse weakness and cold hand in 13 patients disappeared after fracture reduction.

CONCLUSIONThe ulnar nerve should be explored during the operation at the first stage of supracondylar fracture. Wether the median nerve, radial nerve and blood vessel be explored or not should be decided by preoperative examination results. The preoperative EMG and Doppler ultrasound examination is not a routine examination before surgery.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Humeral Fractures ; complications ; surgery ; Male ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Vascular System Injuries ; surgery