Epidemiology of humeral fractures in Malawi

International Orthopaedics - Tập 28 - Trang 338-341 - 2004
P. S. Igbigbi1, K. Manda1
1Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre 3, Malawi

Tóm tắt

We analysed and determined retrospectively the location, age, gender and side of the body of humeral fractures from 258 antero-posterior radiographs of all patients aged 3–81 years over a 5-year period. It was observed that 160 fractures occurred on the left side while 98 were on the right side with 156 occurring in males and 102 in females. Forty-eight percent of the fractures occurred at the lower end of the humerus while 41% occurred at the mid-shaft with only 10% occurring at the upper end. Furthermore, the age group of 3–12 years had the highest incidence of fractures (40.7%) with the age group of 30–39 years the lowest incidence (6.2%). Most supracondylar fractures (75.4%) occurred in children, with teenagers accounting for the majority of mid-shaft fractures (51.9%). However, middle-aged and elderly individuals had the highest incidence of upper humeral fractures (73.1%). There was significant relationship between the site of these fractures, age, gender and body side of the patients studied (p<0.001). These results are, however, not in agreement with some previously documented studies. The importance of epidemiological study of humeral fractures in planning, training and resource management in a given population is therefore stressed.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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