Biological plating for diaphyseal humeral fractures

Abstract

Background Diaphyseal humeral fracture is one of the common injuries in orthopedic surgery. The biological plating technique or minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) is the fixation of the fracture with minimal opening, preserving the soft tissue attachment and blood supply to the bone. Aim To evaluate the biological plating technique in the management of diaphyseal humeral fractures by comparing MIPO with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) techniques. Patients and methods This study is a randomized controlled trial. It was performed on 40 adult patients with a humeral diaphyseal fracture. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: 20 MIPO cases and 20 ORIF controls. We compared the two groups. Results MIPO is superior to ORIF, as it has a shorter duration of surgery, shorter incision length, and less blood loss. It may minimize to some extent the duration of fracture healing and the risk of deep infection. MIPO and ORIF have excellent shoulder and elbow functional outcomes. Conclusion MIPO offers many advantages over the ORIF, but it has some disadvantages.