Twenty-four humeral-shaft fractures with associated radial-nerve
injuries in twenty-three patients with adequate follow-up were seen over a
fifteen-year period. Initial treatment was closed in all but one patient,
in whom debridement of an open fracture revealed a lacerated radial nerve.
All patients had complete return of radial-nerve function. Two of the
twenty-four nerve lesions were treated by delayed operation: one at
fourteen weeks for entrapment in fracture callus, and the other at six
weeks for repair of the aforementioned lacerated radial nerve. Thus, only 8
per cent of the patients required exploration of the nerve, all of whom did
well after delayed repair. We recommend careful observation for return of
nerve function and exploration at three and a half to four months after
injury if there is still no clinical or electromyographic evidence of
recovery at that time.