RESUMO
Forty cases with humeral shaft fractures underwent surgical stabilization, 22 patients using a dynamic compression plate [DCP] and 18 patients using humeral antegrade interlocking intermedullary nailing [IMN]. There were 9 women and 31 men. Their ages ranged between 23 and 56 years with a mean of 30.4 years. The study was performed at the Saudi German Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and King Fahad Hospital, Madina, Saudi Arabia, between October 1998 and May 2000. The range of follow up was 6 to 16 months with a mean of 9.1 months. The aim of the work was to compare the results of surgical stabilization of humeral shaft fractures using these two modalities of treatment as for the rate of fracture union, the incidence of complication and effect on shoulder and elbow function. Cases treated by DCP showed a higher rate of primary union than those treated by IMN, 90.9% and 83.3% respectively. The average duration to union was shorter in the DCP group of patient than the IMN group 18.5 weeks and 21 weeks respectively. The DCP plate group showed fewer complications, the most common being iatrogenic radial nerve palsy which resolved spontaneously in all patients. In the IMN group of patients, the most common complications were distraction of the fracture contributing to nonunion [22%] and impingement at the shoulder due to proximal nail protrusion a rotator cuff injury [16.7%]. It was concluded that dynamic compression plating of humeral shaft fractures resulted in a higher rate of union in a shorter duration of time with less complications than antegrade intramedullary interlocking nailing