Ender's nailing of displaced tibia shaft fractures in children - A nine-year experience.

Abstract

Displaced fractures of the tibial shaft in children can be effectively treated with minimal complications with flexible nails. Our aim is to evaluate the outcome of displaced paediatric tibia shaft fractures treated with Ender's nails. We retrospectively reviewed the records of all unstable tibial fractures treated between 2010 and 2018, in our institution. Only children with a minimum of six months follow-up and complete clinical data were considered for the study. Of the 72 patients who fulfilled the inclusion-exclusion criteria, 8 were lost for follow-up and hence we had 64 patients included for the study. There were 54 boys and 10 girls, with an average age of 10.9 years(4 to 17 years). The average follow-up was 16.9 months (6 to 47 months). There were nine open fractures. Two nails were used in 52(81.25%) patients while a single nail was used in 6(9.37%) patients and three nails were used in 6(9.37%) patients. The union rate was 100% with an average union time of 10.6 weeks. There were 17 (26.5%) patients with delayed union but none required intervention. One (1.56%) child had a malunion >10° (recurvatum of 11.9° and varus of 8.1°). Radiographs at the final review demonstrated >5° of coronal plane malalignment in eight patients (12.5%) and >5° sagittal plane malalignment (recurvatum) in six patients (9.37%). There was an associated fibular fracture in 50 children and there was no significant association between the presence of fibular fracture and malalignment (p>0.05). All children who presented for implant removal had full range of movement at the knee and ankle joint and no limb length discrepancy. We report the largest series of paediatric tibial shaft fractures treated with Ender's nails. Ender's nail is a simple and cost-effective option for treating these fractures with excellent union rates and minimal complications.