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Shoulder hemiarthroplasty for complex humeral fractures: a 5 to 10-year follow-up retrospective study

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Abstract

Background

Shoulder hemiarthroplasty is considered a standard treatment in case of complex proximal humeral fractures. However, great variability affects the clinical outcomes. In this work, we examined the clinical and radiographic outcomes in a series of patients treated with hemiarthroplasty for 3- and 4-part humeral fractures and focused on factors affecting the final result.

Materials and methods

In this study, we included 27 patients who had received a shoulder hemiarthroplasty between 2001 and 2005 at our institution. These patients were evaluated at an average of 7.2 years after surgery. All patients were managed within 10 days from trauma by the same surgeon and underwent the same time-scheduled rehabilitation program. Average age at surgery was 71.9 years.

Results

Implant survival was 88.9 %. At the latest follow-up, mean DASH and SST-12 scores were 26.8 and 6.5, respectively. Mean Constant–Murley score was 52.4. Tuberosities complications and reduction in the acromion-humeral distance were negatively related to clinical outcome. Age at surgery displayed a negative correlation with clinical outcome, despite not reaching the statistical significance. This is mainly due to great variability in the elder group of patients.

Conclusions

Shoulder hemiarthroplasty is a useful and effective solution for complex humeral fractures, with good results in the majority of patients. However, outcomes display a great variability in relation to X-ray alterations and age at surgery. A careful attention in patient selection is needed in order to standardize the clinical results associated with this kind of prosthetic implant.

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Conflict of interest

Marcello Giovale, Tony Mangano, Emanuele Rodà, Ilaria Repetto, Paola Cerruti, Enea Kuqi, Francesco Franchin declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2005. All patients provided written informed consent to enrolment in the study and to inclusion in this article of information that could potentially lead to their identification. In accordance with Italian laws (GU n. 76/31.03.2008), this work did not require the formal approval of the Ethical Committee. The EC was made aware of the submission of our data for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, School of Medicine, University of Genova, Padiglione 40, Largo Rosanna Benzi 10, 10132, Genova, Italy

    M. Giovale, T. Mangano, E. Rodà, I. Repetto, P. Cerruti, E. Kuqi & F. Franchin

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  1. M. Giovale
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  2. T. Mangano
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  3. E. Rodà
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  4. I. Repetto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Mangano.

Additional information

M. Giovale and T. Mangano have equally contributed to this work.

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Giovale, M., Mangano, T., Rodà, E. et al. Shoulder hemiarthroplasty for complex humeral fractures: a 5 to 10-year follow-up retrospective study. Musculoskelet Surg 98 (Suppl 1), 27–33 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12306-014-0319-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12306-014-0319-y

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