RESULTS OF HUMERAL STUMP ANGULATION OSTEOTOMY

Between 1972 and 1989 angulation osteotomy was performed on 61 patient s with long humeral stumps at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Heidelberg U niversity. Marquardt's surgical technique was used to improve function in patients who had undergone above-elbow amputation and in children with a risk of terminal osseous overgrowth. Thirty-one patients with 4 3 angulation osteotomies were followed up. Of the 10 adults followed u p, the osteotomy had not straightened, whereas with the 33 angulation osteotomies in children, one had straightened out within 6 months, sev en within 12 months and a further 12 up to 24 months after surgery. Th e only recognizable reason for this difference was the patient's age d epending on whether humeral growth was not yet completed. Marquardt's angulation osteotomy, however, is still the only surgical technique th at improves humeral stump function, providing a rotation-stable humera l prosthesis and a free-moving shoulder joint.