Emin Kürşat Bulut

Niğde Ömer Halisdemı̇ r University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Niğde, Türkiye

Bulut EK. Humeral Shaft and Distal Fractures: Anatomy Epidemiology and Classification of Diaphyseal Fr. In: Tiftikçi U, Erdoğan E, Ergün C, Güneş Z, editors. Current Concepts in Adults Upper Extremity Fractures. 1^st ed. Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri; 2025. p.85-89.

ABSTRACT

The humeral shaft consists of the surgical neck in the proximal and the space between the epicondyles in the distal. Its blood supply is heterogeneous, the distal part is less vascularized and the rate of nonunion is high. The main structure responsible for the nutrition of the humeral shaft is the attachment site of the coracobrachialis muscle and the feeding artery in the bone region where the brachialis muscle begins. The deltoid tuberosity and the radial groove are surgically important. The radial nerve passes through the radial groove together with the profunda artery. In the surgical examination of the humeral shaft, the brachial artery, axillary nerve, median, ulnar and radial nerves should be monitored. The Orthopedic Trauma Association (OTA)/AO classification, based on the Müller AO classification of long bone fractures, is the most widely used classification for humeral shaft fractures. Simple, wedge and complex fractures are the three main categories, which are further subdivided according to the fracture pattern.

Keywords: Humerus shaft anatomy; Humerus shaft fractures; Humerus shaft fracture classification; Fracture classification