Metal Failure in Treatment of Fracture of Femoral Shaft

Park, S R; Kim, H S; Moon, K H; Kang, J S; Lee, W H; Shin, S R

Abstract

Treatments of choice for femoral shaft fracture in adult patients are plate and screws, and intramedullary nailing. Through this active treatment, early motion exercise and early weight bearing can be obtained. However, the frequency of metal failure has increased also and has become a problem in treatment of the fracture. The authors clinically analysed the metal failure in 13 cases after fixation of femoral shaft fracture, during last 7 years since from February 1988 to January 1995. We obtained the following results; 1. The interval between initial operation and metal failure was 6.8 months on average, ranging from 2 to 13 months, and the most common site of the metal failure was previous fracture site. 2. The most common cause of metal failure was dificiency of medial buttress(8 cases, 61.5%) and the most common method of the treatment was intramedullary fixation with interlocking nail and bone graft. 3. To avoid metal failure, accurate reduction of fracture, adequate immobilization and adequate postoperative management was necessary.