Surgical Treatment of Femoral Nonunion

Gong, Hyun Sik; Kim, Hee Joong; Kim, Han Soo; Baek, Goo Hyun; Lee, Sang Hoon; Kim, Sang Rim; Chung, Moon Sang; Kim, Young Min

Abstract

Femur is one of the most frequent sites of nonunion and femoral nonunion imposes many complications secondary to repeated surgical procedures and immobilizations. Many kinds of treatment options have been used and studied for comparison, but still the classical principle is rigid fixation, bone grafting, and adequate postoperative immobilization. In this study, the results of surgical treatment for femoral nonunion were analyzed. From July 1995 to August 1997, a total of 14 cases of femoral nonunion were treated surgically at the department of Orthopedic Surgery of the Seoul National University Hospital. All cases were treated by autogenous bone graft and internal fixation. For internal fixation, plate and screws were used in 10 cases and intramedullary nail in 3 cases and compression hip screw in 1 case. Postoperatively, hip spica cast was applied in 8 cases, cast brace in 2 cases and long leg splint in 1 case. In the other 3 cases, no additional support was adopted. In all cases, clinical union was achieved at postoperative 5 months in average. There was no significant complication except one case of marked limited motion in knee followed by hip spica cast.