Background

There is significant variability both in how proximal humerus fractures (PHFs) are treated and the ensuing patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate which surgeon- and patient-specific factors contribute to decision-making in the treatment of adult PHFs. We hypothesized that orthopedic sub-specialty training creates inherent bias and plays an important role in management algorithms for PHFs.

Methods

We performed a prospective cohort investigation in 2 groups of surgeons-traumatologists (N = 25) and shoulder & elbow/sports surgeons (SES) (N = 26)-and asked them to provide treatment recommendations for 30 distinct clinical cases with standardized radiographic and clinical data. This is a population-based sample of surgeons who take trauma call and treat PHFs with different sub-specializations and practice settings including academic, hospital-employed, and private. Surgeons characterized based on subspecialty (trauma vs. SES), experience level (>10 vs. ≤10-years), and employment type (hospital- vs. non-hospital-employed). Chi-square analyses, logistic mixed-effects modeling, and relative importance analysis were used to evaluate the data.

Results

Of the patient-specific factors, we found that the management of PHFs is largely dependent on initial radiographs obtained. Traumatologists were more likely to offer open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) and less likely to offer arthroplasty: 69% ORIF (traumatologists) vs. 51% ORIF (SES, P < .001), 8% arthroplasty (traumatologists) vs. 17% (SES, P < .001). Traumatologists were less likely to change from operative (either ORIF or arthroplasty) to non-operative management compared to SES surgeons when presented with additional patient demographic data. Surgeon-specific factors contributed to more than one-half of the variability in decision-making of PHF management while patient-specific factors contributed to about one-third of the variability in decision-making.

Conclusions

As physicians strive to advance the treatment for PHFs and optimize patient outcomes, our findings highlight the complex overlap between surgeon-, fracture-, and patient-specific factors in the final decision-making process.