Fixation with Philos plates preserves achieved reduction, and a good functional outcome can be expected. However, complication incidence proportions are high, particularly due to primary and secondary screw perforations into the glenohumeral joint, with an overall complication rate of 35%. More accurate length measurement and shorter screw selection should prevent primary screw perforation. Awareness of obtaining anatomic reduction of the tubercles and restoring the medial support should reduce the incidence of secondary screw perforations, even in osteopenic bone.

This series presents the experience using PHLP in 5 Level 1 trauma centers. There were no intraoperative complications related to the locking plate systems. Despite the use of fixed-angle devices, loss of fixation occurred, primarily in the presence of varus malreduction. Our findings suggest that avoiding varus should substantially decrease the risk of postoperative failures.

Vitamin D is well known to exert multiple functions in bone biology, autoimmune diseases, cell growth, inflammation or neuromuscular and other immune functions. It is a fat-soluble vitamin present in many foods. It can be endogenously produced by ultraviolet rays from sunlight when the skin is exposed to initiate vitamin D synthesis. However, since vitamin D is biologically inert when obtained from sun exposure or diet, it must first be activated in human beings before functioning. The kidney and the liver play here a crucial role by hydroxylation of vitamin D to 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the liver and to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in the kidney. In the past decades, it has been proven that vitamin D deficiency is involved in many diseases. Due to vitamin D’s central role in the musculoskeletal system and consequently the strong negative impact on bone health in cases of vitamin D deficiency, our aim was to underline its importance in bone physiology by summarizing recent findings on the correlation of vitamin D status and rickets, osteomalacia, osteopenia, primary and secondary osteoporosis as well as sarcopenia and musculoskeletal pain. While these diseases all positively correlate with a vitamin D deficiency, there is a great controversy regarding the appropriate vitamin D supplementation as both positive and negative effects on bone mineral density, musculoskeletal pain and incidence of falls are reported.

Level 4 (Therapeutic study).

The observation of fracture morphology and topography, with reference to displacement, gives important information about the existence of serious concomitant injuries and can determine further diagnostic and therapeutic options in sternal fractures.