Epidemiology outcomes of proximal humerus fractures in Saudi Arabia

Aljabri, Nibras Khaled; Al-Qahtani, Ashaq Mubarak; Alahmari, Ali Mohammed; Alyamani, Feras Ali; Almutawah, Mohammed Ahmed; Alsaif, Malak Abdulaziz; Almaghrabi, Bashir Adel; Alshareef, Elaf Fahad

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2018.11030

Epidemiology outcomes of proximal humerus fractures in Saudi Arabia

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah

² Najran University, Najran

³ King Khaled University, Abha

⁴ Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Khubar

⁵ King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

10.21608/ejhm.2018.11030

Abstract

Background: Proximal humerus fractures (PHF) are osteoporotic fractures that affect women over 70 years of age. Like fractures of the femoral neck they have become a public health concern. As the population ages there is an increase in the number of people in poor general condition with an increased risk of falls on fragile bones. The incidence of these fractures has increased by 15% per year.
Methods: All patients managed for PHF in Saudi Arabia in the past year were included in this prospective study (prospective cohort study; level 2). Three hundred and twenty-ﬁve patients were included with 329 fractures.
Results: There was a ratio of two women to one man. At the ﬁnal follow-up 50 patients had died (15%) and 25 patients were lost to follow-up. The mean age was 70 years old. There were two types of risk factors. The ﬁrst was fragile bones, and the second was patient speciﬁc risk of falls. The severity of the fracture increased with the age of the population. Hospitalization was necessary in 43% of the cases in our study. Surgical management was necessary in 21%. This lack of relationship between the percentage of displaced fractures (58%) and the percentage of surgically treated fractures is a sign of the difﬁculties of managing this population, which is usually in poor general condition.
Conclusion: Proximal humerus fractures (PHF) is frequent and its prevalence is increasing. The ageing population is the cause, resulting in a population that is in poor general condition with an increased risk of falling on increasingly fragile bone. Measures must be taken in this growing population to prevent the risk factors of PHF because management of these fractures may become another source of dependency in the elderly population.

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