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Similar clinical results found with intramedullary nailing, submuscular plating for treatment of adolescent femoral fractures
Although submuscular plating and intramedullary nailing are both effective treatments in adolescent patients with femoral fractures, the authors of this study noted intramedullary nailing may be superior due to its relative ease in reduction and shorter fluoroscopy times.
The authors performed a prospective study comparing 22 intramedullary nailing (IN) and 23 submuscular plating (SP) procedures performed for femoral shaft fractures in adolescent patients with a minimum 1-year follow-up.
According to the study results, all patients except one in the IN group demonstrated bony union, and the investigators found no significant differences in time to union between the treatment groups. They found no limb length discrepancy of more than 1 cm or mal-union of more than 10°. There were no reoperations in the SP group. There were two reoperations in the IN group — one for mal-rotation and one for deep infection and nonunion. Both cases healed following the revision procedure.
The authors noted each patient in the study displayed satisfactory or excellent results using Flynn’s criteria.
The study noted that IN allowed patients to full weightbear within a mean of 57.3 days compared to 89.2 days in the SP group. IN also resulted in shorter operative and fluoroscopy times, the authors wrote.
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