In clinical treatment, proximal humeral fracture is a relatively common type of fracture, especially in the elderly population. The osteoporosis of elderly patients is more serious, which brings many difficulties to the clinical treatment, leading to invalid conservative treatment. In the process of traditional conservative treatment, patients may suffer from complications such as pain, infection, poor prognosis, and skin necrosis around the incision. Some patients with severe conditions may develop into joint dysfunction and persistent pain, which has a high disability rate. Currently, open reduction and internal fixation is the main treatment method, but the application of simple plate often leads to the fixation failure or the occurrence of fracture relocation, as well as postoperative complications. In recent years, locking plate fixation combined with bone grafting has been gradually applied in the treatment of elderly proximal humeral fractures, while there are relatively few reports.

To explore the application of locking plate combined with bone grafting in the treatment of elderly proximal humeral fractures.

From May 2017 to May 2019, a total of 68 elderly patients with proximal humerus fractures admitted to our hospital were selected as the subjects of this study. According to different treatment methods, they were equally divided into the research group and the control group. Patients in the control group were treated with conventional plate fixation, while patients in the research group were treated with locking plate fixation combined with bone grafting. The VAS score, SF-36 score and shoulder function score of two groups were compared, as well as the treatment effect, operation time, intraoperative blood loss and hospital stay. The occurrence of complications and postoperative varus deformity of humeral head in the two groups were compared as well.

Three months after surgery, the VAS score of the research group was significantly lower than that of the control group, and the SF-36 score and shoulder function score were significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05) . The excellent and good rate of the research group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05) . The duration of surgery and hospitalization in the research group was significantly shorter than that in the control group, and the intraoperative blood loss was significantly less than that in the control group (P<0.05) . The overall incidence of complications in the research group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P<0.05) . The incidence of varus deformity in the research group was significantly less than that in the control group (P<0.05) .

In the process of clinical diagnosis and treatment of elderly proximal humeral fractures, locking plate fixation with bone grafting can effectively reduce the level of pain and significantly improve the patient’s quality of life. It has a positive role in promoting the recovery and reduce the occurrence of complications and varus deformity, which is conducive to the prognosis of patients.