Proximal Humerus Fractures;

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of our study is to study the radiological and functionaloutcome of proximal humerus fractures treated via open reduction and internal fixation usingthe proximal humerus internal locking system or PHILOS. Study Design: Case series study.Period 05 years duration from January 2011 to December 2015. Setting: Large tertiary carecentre in Karachi, Pakistan. Materials and methods: The study population consisted of n=50patients all of whom underwent open reduction and internal fixation utilizing the proximalhumeral internal locking system or PHILOS for fractures of the proximal humerus. The inclusioncriterion was all the patients with closed fractures of the proximal humerus and were belongingto 2,3 and 4 part of the Neer system of classification. Physiotherapy was started as soon aspossible for the patients. Serial radiographic imaging in two views was done at 6, 12, 24 and52 weeks postoperatively. For the functional outcome of the procedure Constant and Murleyscoring system was used. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Results: The studypopulation consisted of n= 50 patients of which n= 35 were males and n= 15 were femaleshaving a mean age of 38.50 years. The mean duration of follow up was 24 months. All thepatients in the study had union of fracture both radiographically and clinically, the mean timeduration for the radiographically evident union of the humerus bone was 12 weeks with a rangeof 8 to 20 weeks, the mean Constant Murley score for the functional outcome of the shoulderjoint was 79 at the final follow up with a range of 50 to 100. Complications were found in n= 9patients and varus malunion was the most common complication. In our case series we did notobserve complications such as avascular necrosis, non union or implant failure. Conclusion:According to the results of our study the proximal humerus internal locking system or PHILOSis a good method for open reduction and internal fixation of the proximal humerus fractures andprovides a stable fixation, and has lower incidence of complications such as avascular necrosis.