Treatment of femoral shaft nonunion

Abstract

Background: Even with the remarkable ability of fractures to heal by the
reconstruction of the injured bone to the original form, some situations occur in which there could be delayed union or nonunion. Attending to the cause of the nonunion would usually yield a positive result.
Objective: To determine the incidence of osseous union in cases of nonunion of the femoral shaft fractures managed by open reduction and internal fixation.
Patients and Methods: Over a two-year period, 17 patients with nonunion of the femoral shaft were treated by open reduction and internal fixation and followed up. The follow up period in each case was 6 months. Clinical and radiological parameters were used in the assessment of osseous union.
Results: Majority of the patients seen were in the 18-29-year category (35%) while the male:female ratio was 1.4:1. The average time from injury to presentation was 20 months. Six of the cases were hypertrophic nonunion while 11 were atrophic nonunion.
Conclusion: The treatment of femoral shaft nonunion at the National
Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu by open reduction and internal fixation produced osseous union in 88.2% of cases.

Keywords: Enugu, femoral shaft, nonunion