Trending a decade of proximal humerus fracture management in older adults
Akshar H. Patel, J. Heath Wilder, Sione A. Ofa, Olivia Lee, Felix H. Savoie, Michael J. O’Brien, William F. Sherman
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Proximal humerus fractures are the third most common fracture in older adults. Because of the aging population, the incidence of these fractures and their impact will continue to grow. With advancement in treatment options for proximal humeral fractures, the aim of this study was to evaluate the trends in acute management of proximal humerus fractures to determine how definitive treatment has changed over the past decade in patients older than 65 years. METHODS: Using a commercially available database, patient records were queried from 2010 to 2019 for the incidence of proximal humerus fractures. For each individual year, data were queried to identify the incidence of closed reduction percutaneous pinning (CRPP), hemiarthroplasty (HA), intramedullary nailing (IMN), open reduction internal fixation (ORIF), total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RSA), or nonoperative treatment for acute proximal humeral fractures. A Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to determine significant changes in the trends of proximal humerus fracture management. Logistic regression analyses were performed to generate odds ratios (OR) with associated 95% confidence intervals comparing each individual procedure performed in 2019 to 2010. RESULTS: < .0001). Patients in 2019 were significantly more likely to receive an RSA (OR 22.65) and were significantly less likely to receive CRPP (OR 0.45), HA (OR 0.20), IMN (OR 0.20), ORIF (OR 0.82), and TSA (OR 0.22) than patients in 2010. In addition, patients in 2019 were significantly more likely to receive nonoperative treatment than patients in 2010 (OR 1.10). CONCLUSION: Over the past decade, most of older adults who sustain proximal humerus fractures continue to receive nonoperative treatment. Although CRPP, IMN, HA, ORIF, and TSA have decreased, RSA has recently become more widely utilized, which is consistent with what has been noted in other countries. Continued examination of the mid- and long-term outcomes of the increasing percentages in RSA should be performed in this population.