Citation

Thorsness R, English C, Gross J, Tyler W, Voloshin I, Gorczyca J. J. Orthop. Trauma 2014; 28(11): 659-663.

Affiliation

University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/BOT.0000000000000114

PMID

24682164

Abstract

Proximal humerus fractures have rarely been associated with injuries to the axillary artery. The vast majority of the fractures described have been Neer 2-part surgical neck fractures with medialization of the shaft fragment and resultant laceration or thrombosis of the axillary artery. No intraoperative deaths have been reported. We present a series of three proximal humerus fractures, two of which are Neer 3-4 part anterior fracture-dislocations, and associated axillary artery injury. There were two mortalities, one intraoperative. After a thorough review of the English literature, we identified an additional 11 cases of axillary artery injury associated with proximal humerus fracture. The purpose of this study is to heighten the clinical suspicion of this vascular injury in patients with proximal humerus fracture-dislocations and surgical neck fractures with shaft medialization, as well as to review pathogenesis and guide management decisions.

Language: en