A comparative study of the Brooker-Wills and Russell-Taylor Nailing for fractures of the tibial shaft

Kim, Hyung Seok; Hong, Ki Do; Ha, Sung Sik; Lee, Young Wha

Abstract

The efficacy of intramedullary nailing in treating patients who have fractures of the tibial shaft has been well estabilished. Forty-five fractures of the shaft of the tibia(forty-five patients) were randomized to treat with interlocking nail with either the Blocker-Wills nail(nineteen fractures) or the Russell-Taylor nail(twenty-six fractures), who were treated at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul Adventist Hospital from January, 1993 to December, 1997. Forty-five patients had acute traumatic fractures of the shaft of tibia with no other significant injuries, patients with other injuries which would intefere with functional evaluation were excluded, We analyzed the result of treatment clinically and radilogically. The results obtained were as follows ; 1. The average operating time was 114.7 minutes in Blocker-Wills nailing and 141.7 minutes in Russell-Taylor nailing. 2. The average time to fracture union healing was 16.7 weeks for Brooker-Wills nailing and 18.6 weeks for Russell-Taylor nailing. 3. The complications including delayed union and superficial infection were greater in Russell-Taylor ndiling than in Blocker-Wills nailing. 4. In functional results accourding to Klemm and Bormer were above good in 16 cases(84.2%) of Brooker-Wills group, and 22 cases(84.6%) in Russell-Taylor nailing group.