Estimation of the main properties in locking plates design for a proximal humerus fracture with the finite element method and DOE

About 20% of humerus fractures need a surgical treatment. Surgical options include closed reduction and percutaneous fixation, open reduction and internal fixation and prosthetic arthroplasty [1]. Recent studies have shown high failure rates after fixation of proximal humerus fractures with a range of 8.6% to 22%. Accordingly, loss of reduction and screw cut-out are the most common reasons for a revision or reoperation surgery [2]. Is thought that the above can occur due to the great rigidity of the implant, which could increases the stress between the implant-bone interfaces leading to the screw cut-out. However, excessively elastic implants lead to premature failure [3]. This study aims to examine 3 main properties (and interactions) in the locking plates design, allowing to estimate the optimal scenarios using the finite element method (FEM) and design of experiments (DOE).