REVIEW ARTICLE
Humeral Shaft Fractures: A Literature Review on Current Treatment Methods
Ahmed Daoub1, *, Pedro Miguel Oliveira Ferreira2, Srinivas Cheruvu1, Matthew Walker2, William Gibson2, Georgios Orfanos2, Rohit Singh1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187432502112091
Publisher ID: e187432502112091
DOI: 10.2174/18743250-v16-e2112091
Article History:
Received Date: 09/06/2021Revision Received Date: 07/10/2021
Acceptance Date: 12/11/2021
Electronic publication date: 25/02/2022
Collection year: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
In this review, we aim to provide a concise yet comprehensive summation of the assessment and management of humeral shaft fractures. These are uncommon but prevalent enough that they are part of any trauma surgeon's scope of practice. They have historically been treated using non-operative methods, including braces and casts, supported by published excellent results in the rate of the bone union. However, recently published studies challenge these results and suggest the outcomes might be better with surgery, but the complications of an operation such as infection and nerve injury can not be overlooked. In summary, non-surgical treatment is still the gold standard in the treatment of these fractures, but the indications for surgical management are now clearer and include early signs of delayed union and patients who are unable to have a brace fitted or are uncompliant. It is likely that these new developments will start to change practice, and therefore the treatment of humeral shaft fractures should be a topic of interest of any clinician who deals with them.
