Reduction of postoperative bleeding following operative treatment of proximal humerus fractures using a collagen sponge

Abstract

Aim of the present study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of TachoSil® to reduce afterbleeding and hematoma following operative treatment of proximal humerus fractures. In a prospective randomized study we included a consecutive series of 40 patients with a proximal humeral fracture in this study. All fractures were stabilized surgically with a fixed-angle “Philos plate” from May 2008 through May 2009. All patients were divided in two groups: Group I with plate osteosynthesis without TachoSil, Group II with plate osteosynthesis with TachoSil. For statistical analysis Chi2- Test and U- Test were used. There were 4 perioperative complica- tions in group II and one complication in group I (Chi2-Test: p=0.233). In group II one hardware failure occurred due to osteoporosis requiring revision and reosteosynthesis. Another patient suffered from paralysis of the radial nerve which healed uneventfully. One superficial postopera-tive infection and one superficial hematoma re-quired revision surgery, too. In this group no subfascial hematoma developed. One subfascial hematoma which required no revision occurred in group I. Blood transfusion was required 2 times in group I and 3 times in group II (Chi2-Test: p = 0.549). In sum in group II there was a sig-nificant lower blood loss for the subfascial drain, the region where TachoSil was applied. No ad-verse affects related to TachoSil could be de-tected. TachoSil was found to be safe and effective for reduction of postoperative bleeding following operative treatment of proximal hume-rus fractures. Further studies with larger sample size are required to confirm the efficacy of TachoSil® in orthopedic surgery.