Epidemiological survey of adult distal humeral fractures in the Third Affiliated Hospital to Hebei Medical University from 2008 through 2012

Abstract

Objective To describe the epidemiology features of adult distal humeral fractures in the Third Affiliated Hospital to Hebei Medical University from 2008 through 2012. Methods The data of adult distal humeral fracture from January 2008 through December 2012 were collected at our institute through the PACS system and case reports checking system. The patients were divided into a young and middle-aged group (from 16 to 60 years) and a senile group (older than 60 years) . The 2 groups were analyzed in terms of gender, age, AO classification, concomitant fracture and causes. Results A total of 540 patients with 542 distal humeral fractures were collected, accounting for 23.69% (542/2, 288) of adult humeral fractures, and 1.04% (542/52, 225) of human fractures. There were 340 men and 200 women, yielding a male to female ratio of 1.70 : 1. Their ages ranged from 16 to 90 years, with a mean age of 37 years. Of them, 451 (83.21%) were young and middle-aged while 91 (16.79%) senile. In the young and middle-aged group, 70.51% were males; in the senile group, 73.63% were females. By AO classification, 50.00% of the fractures were type 13-A. 23.89% of the patients were associated with other fractures most of which occurred in the young and middle-aged (86.82%) and were high-energy injury (75.19%) . 51.71% of the young and middle-aged patients admitted to hospital suffered from high energy injury. Conclusions From 2008 through 2012, adult distal humeral fractures favored mainly young and middle-aged patients. They were chiefly caused by high-energy injury. Most of them were intra-articular ones. The senile patients were mainly female, and their fractures were chiefly caused by low-energy injury and mostly extra-articular ones. Key words: Humeral fractures; Epidemiologic studies; Age distribution; Adult