Mean duration of union in femoral shaft fracture in children treated with titanium elastic intra-medullary nailing

Abstract

Introduction: Elastic intramedullary nail was introduced for femoral fractures by Nancy group in 1979. It has gained popularity in the last two decades. It serves as a weight sharing device. Th e advantages of elastic intramedullary nails as a fi xation device are well known and include closed insertion of the device, with preservation of the fracture hematoma and minimal risk of fracture site infection. Objectives: To determine the mean duration of union in femoral shaft fracture in children treated with elastic intra-medullary nailing. Sett ings: Department of Orthopedics Study design: Case series study. Study duration: 15th March 2017 to 14th September 2017 Materials & Methods: A total of 70 diagnosed cases of femoral shaft fracture presenting within 7 days of the injury and age 6-11 year of both genders were included. Patients with segmental femoral shaft fractures, osteogenesis imperfecta and congenital pseudoarthrosis of the femur were excluded. Th e titanium elastic nails (TEN) system was used in all patients according to the departmental protocols. All the patients were followed up in OPD on 2 weeks interval till union is achieved. Th e duration of union was recorded. Results: Mean age was 8.31±1.69 years. Majority of the females i.e. 37(52.86%) were between 6 to 8 years of age. Out of these 70 infants, 44(62.86%) were male and 26(37.14%) were females with male to female ratio of 1.7:1. Mean duration of union in femoral shaft fracture in children treated with elastic intra-medullary nailing was 10.98 ± 0.602 weeks. Conclusion: Th is study concluded that elastic intra-medullary nailing should be preferred in the treatment of femoral shaft fracture in children in order to achieve good outcome and reduce union time.