RESUMO
Objective:To compare proximal humerus internal locking system (PHILOS) and Multiloc intramedullary nail in the treatment of proximal humerus fracture-anterior dislocation.Methods:A retrospective study was performed to analyze the data of 33 patients with proximal humerus fracture-anterior dislocation who had been treated by open reduction and internal fixation from June 2015 to April 2021 at Department of Upper Limbs, Zhengzhou Orthopaedic Hospital. According to methods of internal fixation, the patients were divided into an extramedullary group and an intramedullary group. In the extramedullary group of 18 cases subjected to internal fixation with PHILOS, there were 8 males and 10 females with an age of (53.3 ± 10.6) years, and 1 2-part fracture, 15 3-part fractures and 2 4-part fractures by the Neer classification. In the intramedullary group of 15 cases subjected to internal fixation with Multiloc intramedullary nail, there were 8 males and 7 females with an age of (51.5 ± 11.2) years, and 14 3-part fractures and 1 4-part fracture by the Neer classification. The 2 groups were compared in terms of incision length, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative complications, and visual analog scale (VAS), range of shoulder motion, and Constant-Murley score at postoperative 12 months.Results:The 2 groups were comparable due to insignificant differences in their preoperative general data ( P>0.05). All patients were followed up for (20.8 ± 4.7) months. The incision length in the intramedullary group [(11.6 ± 1.7) cm] was significantly shorter than that in the extramedullary group [(17.6 ± 2.0) cm], and the intraoperative blood loss in the former [(106.7 ± 34.4) mL] was significantly lower than that in the latter [(151.7 ± 45.7) mL] ( P<0.05). The VAS scores at 1 week and 1 month after surgery [2.0 (2.0, 3.0) and 0.0 (0.0, 1.0) respectively] in the intramedullary group were significantly lower than those in the extramedullary group [3.0 (3.0, 3.3) and 1.0 (0.0, 1.3) respectively] ( P<0.05). The external rotation of the shoulder at the last follow-up in the intramedullary group (65.3° ± 15.5°) was significantly larger than that in the extramedullary group (50.6° ± 13.9°) ( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in operation time, incidence of postoperative complications, VAS score at 12 months after operation, Constant-Murley score or range of shoulder motion at the last follow-up between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:In the treatment of proximal humerus fracture-anterior dislocation, open reduction and internal fixation with both PHILOS and Multiloc intramedullary nail can result in a favorable prognosis when the fracture-dislocation is well reduced and fixated. However, the Multiloc intramedullary nail may lead to better early pain relief, less surgical invasion, and better functional recovery of the external rotation of the shoulder.