One‐Stage Closed Intramedullary Nailing for Delayed Femoral Fracture in Multiple Injured Patients

OBJECTIVE: To tackle the challengeable dilemma of delayed femoral fracture, a technique of fixator‐assisted closed reduction and intramedullary nailing at one stage was introduced herein and its clinical results were investigated. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on delayed femoral shaft fracture between February 2008 and January 2017. The multiple injured patients aged from 18 to 60 years with delayed femoral fracture was included. All patients were treated by one‐stage internal fixation technique and followed up for more than 1 year. Outcome measures including the operation time, intraoperative blood loss and limb alignment, healing time of fracture, visual analog scale (VAS), and range of knee motion were recorded and evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 13 patients (16 sides) with a mean injury severity score (ISS) of 32.77 ± 9.98 (range, 19 to 52) participated in the investigation. The median length of time‐after‐fracture was 38 days (range, 21 to 110 days). The average shortening distance of the fracture ends was 35.48 ± 19.24 mm (range, 10.00 to 79.00 mm). The average surgery time was 192.19 ± 29.38 min for unilateral femoral fracture, with blood loss of 587.50 ± 232.02 ml. The postoperative discrepancy of lower limb was 3.87 ± 2.52 mm. No patient had vascular and neurologic complications due to the lengthening. All fractures healed successfully with a mean time of 2.98 ± 0.57 months. The mean VAS and maximal knee flexion were 1.63 ± 1.09 and 131.25° ± 5.32° at final follow‐up, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that fixator‐assisted closed reduction and intramedullary nailing at one stage is an effective treatment for delayed femoral fracture with satisfactory functional recovery.