Results of humeral stump angulation osteotomy

Between 1972 and 1989 angulation osteotomy was performed on 61 patients with long humeral stumps at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Heidelberg University. Marquardt's surgical technique was used to improve function in patients who had undergone above-elbow amputation and in children with a risk of terminal osseous overgrowth. Thirty-one patients with 43 angulation osteotomies were followed up. Of the 10 adults followed up, the osteotomy had not straightened, whereas with the 33 angulation osteotomies in children, one had straightened out within 6 months, seven within 12 months and a further 12 up to 24 months after surgery. The only recognizable reason for this difference was the patient's age depending on whether humeral growth was not yet completed. Marquardt's angulation osteotomy, however, is still the only surgical technique that improves humeral stump function, providing a rotation-stable humeral prosthesis and a free-moving shoulder joint.