Interlocking Intramedullary Nailing Versus Locked Dual-Plating Fixation for Femoral Shaft Fractures in Patients with Multiple Injuries: A Retrospective Comparative Study.

PURPOSE: Intramedullary nailing (IMN) is a popular method in the management of femoral shaft fractures (FSFs). However, whether the association of IMN with pulmonary fat emboli can compromise the pulmonary and nervous systems is debatable. The purpose of this study is to compare IMN with the locked dual plating (LDP) method by assessing the clinical outcomes of FSF patients with head or chest injury.

METHOD: A total of 126 FSF patients were included in this study between January 2010 and July 2016 and divided into LDP and IMN groups. Patient demographic characteristics, operative time, blood loss, Harris Hip Score, Lysholm Knee Score, radiological outcomes, and systemic complications were collected and compared between the two treatment groups. Patients were followed up for at least 12 months.

RESULTS

The LDP group performed better than IMN in terms of operative time, estimated blood loss amount, and malunion rate. Differences in function scores, fracture union rate, overall pulmonary complication rate, and in-hospital mortality between the two groups were not significant. Average radiographic union time was significantly longer in the LDP group (36.3 weeks) than in the IMN group (32.5 weeks). One case of fixation failure occurred postoperatively in the LDP group, whereas one case of fracture nonunion took place in the IMN group.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that dual-plating fixation is a promising method for FSFs with multiple injuries. However, the retrospective nature of this study necessitates high-quality trials to be performed to assess the clinical efficiency of dual plating.