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. 2023 Dec 1:2023:3974604.
doi: 10.1155/2023/3974604. eCollection 2023.

Radial Nerve Palsy Associated with Humeral Shaft Fractures in Children

Wiktor Łukasz  1   2 , Tomaszewski Ryszard  1   3 , Damps Maria  4
Affiliations

Radial Nerve Palsy Associated with Humeral Shaft Fractures in Children

Wiktor Łukasz et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Background: This is the first systematic review of the relationship between humeral shaft fractures and radial nerve palsy in children. The present comprehensive review is aimed at identifying important clinical findings between humeral diaphysis fractures and radial nerve injuries and assessing the effects of treatment.

Methods: We searched electronic bibliographic databases, including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge, until March 2022. This systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and the patients, interventions, comparisons, outcomes guidelines.

Results: We identified 23 original papers, of which 10 were eligible for further analysis. Cases of 32 young patients with radial nerve palsy were identified and analyzed. The prevalence of radial nerve palsy was 4.34% (eight cases out of 184 patients with humeral shaft fractures). The radial nerve was most often associated with a simple transverse fracture (12A3, 17 cases (65.4%)).

Conclusions: Radial nerve injury in humeral shaft fractures in children is rare, with a frequency of 4.34%. We highly recommend early surgical nerve exploration with transverse fractures in the distal third segment combined with primary radial palsy. Furthermore, we recommend making thoughtful decisions regarding early nerve exploration in the Holstein-Lewis fractures. In addition, consideration of early surgical nerve exploration in fractures resulting from high-energy trauma and open fractures despite their morphology is recommended.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA protocol for data acquisition.
Figure 2
Figure 2
“Traffic light” plots of the domain-level judgements for each individual result.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Weighted bar plots of the distribution of risk-of-bias judgements within each bias domain.
Figure 4
Figure 4
X-ray of the simple transverse humeral shaft fracture (12A3b), most often associated with radial nerve palsy in children (figures from the Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery database, Upper Silesian Children's Health Center, John Paul, Katowice, Poland).
Figure 5
Figure 5
X-ray of the spiral humeral shaft fracture at distal third (12A1c-Holstein–Lewis fracture) usually not associated with severe radial nerve damage in children (figures from the Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery database, Upper Silesian Children's Health Center, John Paul, Katowice, Poland).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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