Abstract
There are various surgical options for treating fracture of femoral shaft in children. Here we compare the results of close with limited open method of Ender's nails fixation of femoral shaft fractures in children. We studied 60 children with femoral shaft fractures in age group 5-15 years. Ender's nail fixation was done by close technique in 40 cases and in 20 cases by limited open technique. The mean operative time was significantly high in limited open group being 64 minutes in comparison to 50 minutes in close group. There was no significant difference between close and limited open groups with respect to time for partial weight bearing and time for full weight bearing. Fracture united sooner in close group as compared to open group. Union was achieved in all patients within a mean of 11 weeks in close group in comparison to 12.4 weeks in open group. According to the Flynn criteria in close group 34 patients had excellent results, 6 had satisfactory and none poor. In limited open group outcome was excellent in 14 patients, satisfactory in 4 patients and 2 had poor result. There was no significant difference in outcome based on Flynn criteria between two groups. Though operative time is more and healing is delayed in Ender's nail fixation by limited open technique, there is no statistical difference in final outcome as per Flynn criteria between close and limited open technique of Ender's nail fixation of femoral shaft fractures in children.
Highlights
There are various surgical options for treating fracture of femoral shaft in children
In 40 children, surgery was done by close method and in remaining 20 cases reduction was achieved by limited open technique
Antegrade nailing was done in 2 cases whereas in 38 cases nails were inserted in a retrograde manner
Summary
There are various surgical options for treating fracture of femoral shaft in children. We compare the results of close with limited open method of Ender’s nails fixation of femoral shaft fractures in children. Flexible intramedullary nails (Ender’s and titanium elastic nails), external fixation, compression plating and locked rigid intramedullary rod are the available options for fixing femoral fractures in children. We compared the outcomes of close Ender’s nailing with Ender’s nailing by limited open technique in pediatric femoral shaft fractures
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have