Dataset Information

Review of literature of radial nerve injuries associated with humeral fractures-an integrated management strategy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Radial nerve palsy associated with fractures of the shaft of the humerus is the most common nerve lesion complicating fractures of long bones. However, the management of radial nerve injuries associated with humeral fractures is debatable. There was no consensus between observation and early exploration.

Methods and findings

The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Google Scholar, CINAHL, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, and Social Sciences Citation Index were searched. Two authors independently searched for relevant studies in any language from 1966 to Jan 2013. Thirty studies with 2952 humeral fractures participants were identified. Thirteen studies favored conservative strategy. No significant difference between early exploration and no exploration groups (OR, 1.03, 95% CI 0.61, 1.72; I(2)?=?0.0%, p?=?0.918 n.s.). Three studies recommend early radial nerve exploration in patients with open fractures of humerus with radial nerve injury. Five studies proposed early exploration was performed in high-energy humeral shaft fractures with radial nerve injury.

Conclusions

The conservative strategy was a good choice for patients with low-energy closed fractures of humerus with radial nerve injury. We recommend early radial nerve exploration (within the first 2 weeks) in patients with open fractures or high-energy closed fractures of humerus with radial nerve injury.

SUBMITTER: Li Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3826746 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:The most frequently used surgical procedures for treating a proximal humeral fracture (PHF) are plate osteosynthesis, nail osteosynthesis and arthroplasty. Evidence-based recommendations for an appropriate surgical procedure after PHF requires transparent and valid safety data. We performed a systematic review to examine reported terms and definitions of complications after surgically-treated PHFs. METHODS:A literature search was conducted on PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Scopus and WorldCat to identify clinical articles and book chapters on complications of PHF published from 2010 to 2017. Complication terms and definitions were extracted from each selected article independently by two reviewers and grouped according to a predefined scheme. RESULTS:From 1376 initial references, we selected 470 articles, of which 103 were reviewed in reverse chronological order until no further information was gained. Twelve book chapters were reviewed. We found 667 local event terms associated with complications after surgical treatment of PHFs. The most frequently used event terms were infection (52 references), nonunion (n?=?42), malunion (n?=?35), avascular necrosis (n?=?27) and pain (n?=?25). Overall, 345, 177, 257 and 102 local event terms were related to plating, nailing, arthroplasty and other surgical techniques, respectively. Radiological assessment was the basis for the majority of event terms and complication definitions. Thirty-six event definitions were extracted, mostly defining the terms "secondary fracture displacement", "screw perforation/cutout", "malunion", "delayed healing" and "notching". CONCLUSION:Scientific literature on surgically-managed PHF uses different terms to describe complications and without approved definitions, which highlights a lack of agreement on adverse event terminology for PHFs. Defined event terms are mostly based on radiological observations. Consensus among shoulder surgeons on a core event set is indispensable to support the standardization of safety reporting for surgically-treated PHFs.

Project description:BackgroundA majority of proximal humeral fractures can be managed without surgery. Recent randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses even question the benefit of surgical treatment for displaced 3-, and 4-part fractures. However, evidence-based treatment recommendations, balancing benefits and harms, presuppose a common reporting of complications and adverse events, which at the moment is largely missing. Therefore we systematically reviewed the use of terms and definitions of complications after nonsurgical management of proximal humeral fractures.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus and WorldCat (2010-2017) and included articles and book chapters containing complication terms or definitions. Two reviewers independently extracted and grouped terms and definitions according to a predefined scheme. Terms and definitions concerning non-surgical management were tabulated, grouped and analyzed qualitatively.ResultsThe initial search identified 1376 references from which 470 articles were selected for full-text retrieval. Data-extraction included first articles published in 2017, was then performed iteratively in batches of 20 articles, and terminated after retrieval of 91 articles when no additional definitions or terms was found. In addition, 12 book chapters were reviewed from an initial list of 100. No general definition of a complication was found. A total of 69 terms for complications after non-surgical management were identified from 19 articles. Sixty-seven terms regarded local events. The most commonly reported event terms regarded osteonecrosis, malunion, secondary displacement and rotator cuff problems. Seven individual terms were accompanied by some kind of definition. Most terms and definitions were based on radiographical assessments.ConclusionsWe found no consensus in the use of terms and definitions of complications after nonsurgical management of proximal humeral fractures. Multiple terms, some synonymous, some partly synonymous, some distinct, were used. Few complication terms were explicitly defined. Development and validation of an internationally consensus-based core event set for complications after proximal humeral fractures managed non-surgically is needed.

Project description:BackgroundThe optimal treatment of complex, displaced proximal humeral fractures is controversial. A systematic literature review of the time period from 1970 to 2009 was conducted. The purpose was to evaluate the clinical success and complications of the available treatment modalities to determine specific treatment recommendations for the different fracture patterns.MethodsThe databases (PubMed/EMBASE) were searched for the time period (01/1970-09/2009). Study quality, treatment modalities, classification, outcome scores and complications of 200 publications including 9377 patients were analyzed. Interventions were compared by analysis of variance with subsequent Tukey's-test. Complication rates among methods were compared by using Pearson's-chi-square-test and pairwise comparisons using Fisher's-two-tailed-exact-test.ResultsHemiarthroplasty, angle-stable plate and non-operative treatment were used for 63% of the follow-up-patients. For 3- and 4-part fractures, patients with hemiarthroplasty [3-Part: 56.4 (lower/upper 95% confidence interval (CI): 43.3-68.7); 4-Part: 49.4 (CI: 42.2-56.7)] received a lower score than different surgical head-preserving methods such as ORIF [3-Part: 82.4 (CI: 76.6-86.9); 4-Part: 83.0 (CI:78.7-86.6)], intramedullary nailing [3-Part: 79.1 (CI:74.0-83.4)] or angle-stable plates [4-Part: 66.4 (CI: 59.7-72.4)].The overall complication rate was 56%. The most common complications were fracture-displacement, malunion, humeral head necrosis and malreduction. The highest complication rates were documented for conventional plate and hemiarthroplasty and for AO-C, AO-A, for 3- and 4-part fractures. Only 25% of the data were reported with detailed classification results and the corresponding outcome scores.DiscussionDespite the large amount of patients included, it is difficult to determine adequate recommendations for the treatment of proximal humeral fractures because a relevant lack of follow-up data impaired subsequent analysis. For displaced 3- and 4-part fractures head-preserving therapy received better outcome scores than hemiarthroplasty. However, a higher number of complications occurred in more complex fractures and when hemiarthroplasty or conventional plate osteosynthesis was performed. Thus, when informing the patient for consent, both the clinical results and the possibly expected complications with a chosen treatment modality should be addressed.