Distal third femoral shaft fractures in school-aged children: A comparative study of elastic stable intramedullary nail and external fixator

Abstract

AbstractInternal fixation such as elastic stable intramedullary(ESIN) nail and submuscular plate (SMP) is gaining popularity for femoral shaft fractures in school-aged children. However, external fixation (ExFix) might be a valuable option for the distal third femoral shaft fractures, where the fracture heals rapidly, but it is crucial to avoid angular malunion. This study aims to compare the clinical outcomes, postoperative complications of distal third femoral shaft fractures in school-aged children treated by ESIN versus ExFix.Patients aged 5 to 11 years with distal third femoral shaft fractures treated at our institute from January 2014 to January 2016 were included and categorized into ESIN (n = 33) and ExFix (n = 38) group. The preoperative data, including baseline information of the patients, radiographic parameters, and type of surgical procedure, were collected from the hospital database, and postoperative data, including complications, were collected during the follow-up visit.In all, 33 patients (average, 8.0 ± 2.1 years, male 20, female 13) in the ESIN group and 38 patients (average, 8.3 ± 2.3 years, male 23, female 15) in the ExFix group were included in this study. There was significantly less operative time for the ExFix group (45.4 ± 7.8 min) as compared to the ESIN group (57.8 ± 11.3 min) (P < .01), reduced estimated blood loss (EBL) in the ExFix group (9.9 ± 3.5) as compared to the ESIN group (16.4 ± 6.5) (P