Abstract

Background: Proximal humeral nail and PHILOS plate fixation for the proximal humeral fractures offers good anatomic fracture reduction and stable primary fixation to ensure rapid fracture healing and immediate post-operative functional therapy without prolonged immobilization.

Objectives: To assess and compare the fracture union and the functional outcome of proximal humerus fractures using proximal humeral nail and PHILOS plate.

Materials and methods: A comparative prospective study was conducted at Guntur Medical College from October 2016 to October 2018. In this study we have included a total of 34 patients randomly selected as 15 cases for PHN group and 19 cases included in PHILOS group. The follow-up period was 12 months.

Results: In our study, majority were males (73.5%) and most common mode of injury (73.5%) was RTA with Neer’s 3- part (44.1%) is the most common type of fracture. out of 15 cases in the PHN group 5 cases (33.3%) had Excellent, 7 cases (46.7%) had Satisfactory, 1 case (6.7%) had satisfactory and 2 cases (13.3%) had Failure outcome. Out of 19 cases of PHILOS group, 3 cases (15.8%) had Excellent, 14 cases (73.7%) had satisfactory, 2 cases (13.3%) had Unsatisfactory outcome and there were Failure cases according to Neer’s criteria. There was no significant difference (p value >0.05) between the two groups.

Conclusion: Both the treatment options are effective in treating the proximal fractures and there was no significant difference between functional outcome between the two groups at 1-year follow-up.

Keywords: Proximal humeral fractures; PHN; PHILOS plate