Study of functional and radiological outcome in humerus shaft fractures treated with anterior bridge plating

Abstract

Introduction: In our study we have evaluated functional and radiological outcome in 20 patients. Humerus shaft fractures treated with anterior bridge plating has shown good results in terms of postoperative pain and union time. Though open reduction and internal fixation is gold standard this technique gives good results.Materials and Methods: Twenty patients were treated with anterior bridge plating between July 2020 to may 2021.All cases were treated with 4.5mm DCP in bridging mode. Mechanism of injury, age, gender, union time were taken into account. UCLA shoulder and MEPS score were taken for assessing function.Results: In this study 20 patients were included, 16 males and 4 females. The age of patients ranged from 20 to 60 years with mean age of 34 years. All the fractures healed within range of 16-18 weeks. No radial nerve palsies were recorded. According to UCLA shoulder score 16 patients were excellent and 4 patients were good. The mayo elbow performance score was above 90 for all patients.Conclusion: Anterior bridge plating using MIPO technique results in good functional and radiological outcomes. It is safe and less time consuming for simple humerus shaft fracture patterns.