[Locked nailing of fractures of the long bones. 1. Fractures of the leg].

The authors present an account of their initial experience with the use of a method of locked nailing of fractures of the leg, applying the technique described by Grosse and Kempf. They use original implants of Howmedica Co. They indicated for osteosynthesis closed fractures of the leg in the middle three fifths of the bone length, without major damage of soft tissues (grade 0 and 1 of Tscherne's classification). In injuries with imminent compartment syndrome they operated after a delay, in all others they operated early after injury. Using the described method, the authors operated 16 patients. In three instances they used static locking of the nail, in 13 instances dynamic locking. The authors did not observe any delayed healing of the fractures. The only complication was partial paresis of the deep branch of the peroneal nerve. In all instances the patients were allowed to weight-bearing of the operated extremity soon--on average 3.5 weeks after operation. Recovery followed after 8-15 weeks. The authors consider this method with regard to the possible functional treatment, stability for weight-bearing, and rapid recovery of the fracture as the optimal therapeutic procedure for almost all types of closed fractures in the middle three fifths of the leg.