[Reconstruction and balance of soft tissue in hemi-shoulder replacement for patients with four-part fracture of the proximal humerus].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the effective skills of reconstruction and balance of soft tissue in hemi-shoulder replacement for patients with four-part fracture of the proximal humerus in order to avoid postoperative complications of joint instability and great tubercle displacement.


METHODS
From June 2002 to June 2006, 25 patients with Neer four-part fracture of the proximal humerus were adopted in the study which included 15 females and 10 males, with the mean age of 66 years (ranged from 56 years to 80 years). They were treated with humeral head replacement and should joint reparation simultaneously by modified operation approach and reconstruction and balance skills of soft tissue.


RESULTS
The mean duration of follow-up was 2.3 years (ranged from 1 to 4.5 years). No infection, nerve damage and prosthesis loosing were found in all cases. Two cases of infra-forward dislocation or subluxation occurred due to affected limb placed on abduction splint postoperatively. One case occurred prosthesis upward displacement due to early active abduction exercise but no complains. Neither joint instability nor displacement and malunion of great tubercle were found in other patients. According to Neer scoring system, 6 cases were rated as excellent, 15 as good and 5 as fair. The good and excellent rate was 84%.


CONCLUSIONS
In hemi-shoulder replacement for patients with Neer four-part fracture the modified operation approach and reconstruction and balance of soft tissue skills combined with rational rehabilitation exercise can prevent postoperative shoulder joint instability and displacement and malunion of great tubercle.
Wu
Xing
X
Department of Orthopaedics, the Affiliated Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China. wuxinggood@163.com
Lou
Lie-ming
LM
Chen
Zheng-rong
ZR
Zhang
Guang-jian
GJ
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019643:Arthroplasty, Replacement / Q000379:methods*; D003238:Connective Tissue / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D012784:Shoulder Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000601:surgery