DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i02.048

Pages: 672-675

Objectives: To compare the anatomical and functional outcomes of the plating osteosynthesis and retrograde intramedullary nailing according to Hackethal in the management of humeral shaft fractures. Introduction: The humeral shaft fractures can be attributed to 1-5% of fractures of the humerus. Their diagnosis is easy. On the other hand, the modalities of their treatment are far from unanimous because all the therapeutic methods have defenders. Materials and methods: Our work is a retrospective study in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology II, Mohamed V Military Hospital of Rabat, during a period of five years from January 2010 to January 2015, including 21 cases of humeral shaft fracture, 15 men and six women, three polytraumatized and one case of primary radial paralysis. Plating osteosynthesis was performed in 10 patients and 11 patients were treated by retrograde intramedullary nailing according to Hackethal. The results were evaluated with the modified Stewart and Hundley classification. Results: We had 16 very good outcomes, a good one and four were bad. The bad outcomes were three cases of pseudarthrosis and two cases of radial paralysis. For patients treated by plating osteosynthesis: Two radial postoperative paralyses and one case of nonunion. For patients treated by retrograde intramedullary nailing according to Hackethal: No radial paralysis; two cases of pseudarthrosis taken by plating osteosynthesis with cortico-cancellous graft. Conclusion: The choice between the therapeutic means is difficult. There is no method that can lead to unanimous support. The retrograde intramedullary nailing according to Hackethal could be this method.