Short-term complications following distal humerus open reduction and internal fixation

Distal humerus fractures (DHFs) account for around 2% of all adult fractures. Since nonoperative strategies often lead to loss of motion and disability from prolonged immobilization, open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) is a commonly employed first-line treatment for reconstructable DHFs and can yield satisfactory outcomes. Surgical recovery, however, is not without complications, with reported rates up to 30%. Prior studies often report ORIF in pooled or comparative settings, leaving a gap in isolated ORIF outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to analyze short-term postoperative complications following DHF ORIF.

The American College of Surgeons National Surgery Quality Improvement Program database was queried using the Current Procedural Terminology code 24579. Patients with missing relevant variables were excluded. Postoperative outcomes included surgical site infection, wound dehiscence, return to the operating room (ROR), and any adverse event (AAE), among others. Continuous variables were reported as mean (standard deviation) and binary variables as number (%). Multivariate logistic regression with Bonferroni correction was used to model associated risk factors. Additionally, threshold analysis was applied to operative time for modeling complication risk.

A total of 833 patients were identified (mean age = 53.9 ± 19.9; 71.8% female; 70.1% white; 68.3% outpatient; 50.1% American Society of Anesthesiologists class 2). Cohort comorbidities included smoking (18%) and diabetes (8.9%; 5.3% non-insulin dependent; 3.6% insulin-dependent). Overall, complication rates were low, with AAE occurring at 5.2% within 30 days. Surgical site infection, ROR, and wound dehiscence were all below 2%. Age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03), operative time (OR = 1.01), hospital length of stay (OR = 1.2), and smoking (OR = 2.07) significantly increased AAE risk. A 97.1-minute significant operative time threshold was calculated, with complication rates of 7.8% and 1.4% above and below this cutoff, respectively (OR = 5.62).

DHF ORIF demonstrates low short-term complication rates. However, factors such as increased age and smoking elicit reasonable operative concerns. Prolonging operative time was significantly associated with increased risks for AAE, the highest of which was observed beyond a 97-minute threshold for operative time. Targeted counseling is recommended, and future studies are warranted to further granularize outcomes.