The choice of whether to perform antegrade intramedullary nailing (IMN) or plate fixation (PF) poses a conundrum for the surgeon who must strike the balance between anatomical restoration while reducing elbow and shoulder functional impairment. Most humeral middle third shaft fractures are amenable to conservative management given the considerable acceptable deformity and anatomical compensation by patients. This study is concerned with the patient reported outcomes regarding shoulder and elbow function for IMN and PF respectively.

A prospective cohort study following up all the cases treated surgically for middle third humeral fractures from 2016 to 2022 at a single centre. Telephonically an analogue pain score, an American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES) score for shoulder function and the Oxford Elbow score (OES) for elbow function were obtained.

One hundred and three patients met the inclusion criteria. Twenty four patients participated in the study, fifteen had IMN (62.5%) and nine had PF (37.5%.). The shoulder function outcomes showed no statistical difference with an average ASES score of sixty-six for the IMN group and sixty-nine for the PF group. Women and employed individuals expressed greater functional impairment. Hand dominance has no impact on the scores of elbow and shoulder function post operatively. The impairment of abduction score post antegrade nailing was higher in the antegrade nailing group than the plated group. The OES demonstrated greater variance in elbow function in the PF group with the IMN group expressing greater elbow disfunction.

This study confirms that treatment of middle third humerus shaft fractures by plate fixation is marginally superior to antegrade intramedullary nailing in preserving elbow function and abduction ability.

Introduction

Offset femoral broach handles have become more common as the anterior approach in total hip arthroplasty has increased in popularity. The difference in access to the femur compared to a posterior approach necessitates anterior and, in some cases, lateral offsets incorporated into the design of the broach handle to avoid interference with the patient's body and to ensure accessibility of the strike plate.

Using a straight broach handle with a primary stem, impaction force is typically directed along the axis of the femoral broach. However, the addition of one or more offsets to facilitate an anterior approach results in force transmission in the transverse plane, which is unnecessary for eating the femoral broach. The direction of forces transmitted to the broach via strike plate impaction can introduce a large moment. A negative consequence of this moment is the amplification of stresses/strains at the bone/broach interface, which increases the likelihood of femoral fracture during impaction.

It was proposed that optimizing the angle of the strike plate could minimize the moment to reduce the unintended stresses/strains at the bone/broach interface.

Background

High functional aspirations and an active ageing population equate to a growing number of patients awaiting hip arthroplasty demanding superior biomechanical function. The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanics of top walking speed between two commonly used hip arthroplasty procedures to determine if a performance advantage existed.