Study of interlocking nail in shaft tibia fracture

Abstract

Introduction: The tibia is the most commonly fractured long bone in the body and understanding of the mode of injury, fracture pattern is necessary to decide an operative management. Tibia shaft fractures are commonly managed by interlocking nail. This study is to assess the surgical management and assess the functional outcome of tibia shaft fractures.Materials and Method: The study consist of 50 patients with tibia shaft fracture treated with tibia interlocking nail. Clinical outcome and function results were evaluated by Alho & Ekland’s criteria.Result: In this study, we have operated a total 50 cases with tibia interlocking nail in tibial shaft fractures. The average union time was 17.68 weeks. The study yielded about 82 % of excellent result.Conclusion: The present study shows that closed fractures of the tibia shaft treated with interlocking intramedullary tibia nailing involves minimal surgical trauma and negligible blood loss. It provides the advantages of early ambulation, lower rates of infection and non-union. A significant advantage of interlocking nail in addition to early joint mobilisation, is early weight bearing which allows earlier return to work. Hence the study concluded that closed interlocking intramedullary nail is the treatment of choice in closed tibia shaft fracture.