Clinical Report on Fractures of the Femur

Abstract

During the fifteen years, 1955-69, two hundred and twenty-four patients with fractures of the femur were treated in our orthopaedic clinic.Femoral head fracture was seen in five patients and the slipping of the capital femoral epiphysis was seen in four patients. Femoral neck fracture was seen in ninety-eight patients (internal neck fracture-51 cases, external neck fracture-47 cases). Sixty-six of this fracture were treated operatively with Smith-Petersen nail and McLaughlin nailplate. Femoral head was resected in two cases and arthroplasties were performed on only four cases. There remained twenty-one conservatively treated femoral neck fractures. Femoral shaft fracture was seen also in ninety-eight patients. Fourty-two of this fracture were treated by intramedullary nailing. In sixteen cases the nailing was done by a closed techinique, without exposing the fracture site, and using an image intensifier. But the fractures of the femoral shaft of children were mainly treated by conservative extension. The fracture of femoral condyle was seen in eighteen patients and they were commonly treated operatively with blade plates and screws. Only one case of the slipping of the lower femoral epiphysis was found in our series.