Outcome of open inter-locking nail for femoral shaft fractures: an effective alternative in a resource restricted environment

Abstract

Background: Femoralshaft fracture remains one of the commonest fractures in adults arising from high velocity forces. Though closed interlocking nail is the standard of management of closed femoral shaft fractures, however it is not always an obtainable resource in poor settings where ignorance on the part of the patient and absence of required equipment for closed reduction on the part of surgeon makes open interlocking nail popular and the best resort. The aim of the study was to show our experience using open locked intramedullary nail in femoral shaft fractures
Methods: This study is a prospective descriptive study carried out at the Orthopaedic Unit of Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital and Rapha Specialist hospital in Kaduna.
Results: In our study, 75% of patients were aged between 21-40 years with mean age of 32.5±5.7 years. The average time of union both radiological and clinically was 13 – 16 weeks in about 34.4% of cases. 23 (71.9%) of our patients had no post up complications, however 2 patients had superficial wound infection, 3 (9.4%) patients had knee stiffness, 2 (6.3%) patients had a <2cm shortening, 1(3.1%) patient had osteomyelitis and 1 (3.1%) patient had an implant failure.
Conclusion: Our study showed a favorable outcome for open interlocking nail in the treatment of closed diaphyseal fractures even in a resource -restricted environment.