MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Amar Rangan Clinical Professor, Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery School of Medicine & Health, Durham University & Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon The James Cook University Hospital Middlesbrough Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Rangan: The majority of fractures of the proximal humerus (broken shoulders) occur in people older than 65 years. Although surgical treatment is being increasingly used for the more serious (displaced) fractures, it has been unclear whether surgical intervention (fracture fixation or humeral head replacement) produces consistently better outcomes than non-surgical treatment (arm-sling); both followed by physiotherapy. Our multicentre randomized controlled trial (ProFHER), funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research’s Health Technology Assessment Programme, recruited 250 patients aged 16 years or older (mean age, 66 years) who presented at the orthopedic departments of 32 acute UK National Health Service hospitals between September 2008 and April 2011 after sustaining the most common types of acute displaced fracture of the proximal humerus. Data for 231 patients (92.4% of 250) included in the primary analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the two treatment groups over two years or at 6, 12 and 24 months follow-up in self-reported pain and function scores. Nor were there significant differences on measures of health-related quality of life, complications related to surgery or shoulder fracture, later surgery or treatment for these complications, and death. (more…)