Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis with versus without B-ultrasound surface localization of the upper arm nerves in treatment of fractures of the middle and upper humeral shaft / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPPO) with versus without B-ultrasound surface localization of the upper arm nerves in the treatment of fractures of the middle and upper humeral shaft.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted of the 105 patients who had been admitted to Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Honghui Hospital for fractures of the middle and upper humeral shaft from August 2015 to May 2017. They were divided into 2 groups according to whether or not B-ultrasound surface localization of the upper arm nerves had been used in MIPPO. There were 52 cases in the B-ultrasound localization group and 53 cases in the simple MIPPO group. The 2 groups were compared in terms of operation time, intraoperative blood loss, fracture union time and complications. The shoulder joint functions were assessed at the last follow-up using the Neer shoulder joint function scoring.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability between groups ( P>0.05). There were significant differences between the B-ultrasound localization group and the simple MIPPO group in operation time [(62.8±8.6) min versus (96.8±7.5) min], or intraoperative blood loss [(107.4±5.6) mL versus (215.4±7.2) mL]. Neer shoulder function scoring showed that the excellent and good rate in the B-ultrasound localization group [94.2% (49/52)] was significantly higher than that in the simple MIPPO group [81.1% (43/53)] ( P<0.05). Conclusions:In the MIPPO of fractures of the upper and middle humeral shaft, B-ultrasound surface localization of the upper arm nerves should be used as preoperative routines to reduce operation time and intraoperative blood loss to improve prognostic functions of the shoulder.