Does Supplemental Intramedullary Grafting Increase Stability of Plated Proximal Humerus Fractures?

To investigate the biomechanical competence of locked plating augmented with supplemental intramedullary graft in comparison to conventional locked plate fixation in proximal humerus fractures (PHF).

Complex four-part PHFs were set in 30 artificial humeri assigned to 3 study groups (n = 10 in each group). Group 1 was characterized by loss of medial support, group 2 by simulated severe cancellous bone damage due to osteoporosis, and group 3 by combination of the 2 features. After locked plating, each specimen underwent nondestructive quasi-static mechanical testing in 25 degrees lateral angulation under axial loading between 150 and 400 N in 50-N increments, accompanied by consecutive anteroposterior x-ray imaging. Subsequently, an additional 3D-printed intramedullary graft was inserted into each specimen and all tests were repeated.

Grafting resulted in significantly higher axial stiffness compared with no graft in groups 1 and 3 (P < 0.01) but not in group 2 (P = 0.12). Nongrafted specimens represented significantly higher stiffness in group 2 compared with groups 1 and 3 (P < 0.01), whereas no significant differences were detected among the 3 groups in the grafted state (P > 0.99). Varus deformation decreased significantly in each group after graft insertion (P ≤ 0.04). Nongrafted specimens in group 2 showed significantly lower varus deformation compared with groups 1 and 3 (P ≤ 0.04). No significant differences were registered among the 3 groups after grafting (P ≥ 0.65).

From a biomechanical perspective, locked plating augmented with intramedullary graft has the potential to increase significantly the stability against varus collapse in unstable PHFs when compared with conventional locked plate fixation.