Antegrade nailing for fractures of the distal femur.

Thirty-five fractures of the distal femur were treated by antegrade intramedullary nailing. All of the fractures were treated by a closed technique. In the cases in which there was extension of the fracture to the knee joint, the fracture initially was stabilized with percutaneous lag screws. Four patients died before fracture healing was complete and 11 were lost to followup. There were 14 extraarticular (Type A) and six intraarticular (Type C1 and Type C2) fractures. All of these fractures healed in a mean time of 17.27 weeks. Functional outcome using the Hospital for Special Surgery knee score was 87. Complications were infrequent with one (5%) pseudarthrosis and no infections. Although this is a very demanding technique, antegrade intramedullary nailing is an efficient procedure compared with other methods of open reduction and internal fixation for difficult distal femoral fractures.