Functional treatment of closed humeral shaft fractures.

We treated 93 consecutive patients, average age 53 (1690) years, with closed humeral shaft fractures applying a functional brace immediately after injury. Seventy-two (77%) fractures healed without problems. There were significantly more consolidation problems in fractures in the proximal third (46% consolidated) compared to those at the middle (81% consolidated) and distal third (86% consolidated) of the shaft. Logistic regression analysis revealed the only predictive factor in respect to successful brace treatment was fracture location. No significant difference was found in respect to healing between different AO-type fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]