Humeral shaft fractures: results of operative and non-operative treatment.

PURPOSE: There has been little direct comparison between non-operative and operative management of humeral shaft fractures. The present study aimed to compare union rates and complication rates between these two modalities of treatment.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed at a regional level 1 trauma centre. A total of 296 patients with humeral shaft fractures met inclusion criteria; 69 patients were treated with a functional brace and 227 with surgical intervention. The primary end point was radiographic union. Nonunion was defined as failure of radiological union at six months, requiring surgical intervention. Time to union, nerve palsy rate, and rate of infection were also examined.

RESULTS: The nonunion rate was significantly higher in the non-operative group (23.2 % vs 10.2 %) despite higher rates of open fractures and high energy mechanisms of injury in the operative group. No significant difference in time to union was found. Nerve palsy was more common in the operative group (20 % vs 39 %); however, only two cases (1 %) of radial nerve palsy in the operative group were iatrogenic and both were transient. Infection rates were higher for the operative group (3.5 % vs 0 %).

CONCLUSIONS: Conservative treatment of humeral shaft fractures has a higher rate of nonunion, while operative treatment is associated with a low incidence of iatrogenic nerve palsy but higher rates of infection.