[Does delayed fracture fixation within the upper extremity influence the rate of complications?]

A series of 42 patients operated on due to humeral shaft fracture and 67 patients with forearm bones shaft fracture were analyzed clinically and statistically. The type of fracture was related to the time span between injury and surgery and number of complications. Complications were divided into two groups--early ones (skin necrosis, infection) and late ones (fixation failure, delayed union, pseudoarthrosis). Injury to surgery time span was divided into for sections: less than 10 h, 10-24 h, 24 h-10 d and above 10 days. Early and late complications prevailed in patients operated within 24 hours from injury (87% of all complications). Eleven patients with humeral fracture had fair or poor result; 8 of them were operated within 24 hours from injury. Among 18 patients with fair and poor results after forearm fracture 13 were operated on within 24 hours from injury.