Retrograde intramedullary nailing in treatment of diaphysical femoral fractures in patients between 6 and 12 years

A descriptive, prospective, longitudinal study was carried out, with the object of determine the clinical evolution and surgical timing of treatment of diaphysical femoral fractures in patients between 6 and 12 years of age using retrograde flexible intramedullary nailing. We followed 62 fractures in 62 patients (46 boys and 16 girls). The average follow-up time was 6 months (range 4 to 20 months). Average age of patients was 8.3 years. The time of duration for the surgical procedure averaged 52.6 minutes. Average in-hospital stay was 7.8 days. We did not have any cases of deep infection. There were 4 cases of superficial skin infection and 3 patients required reoperation due to protrusion of the medial nail under the skin. None of the patients had complications such as loss of range of motion, non-union, hardware failure, injury to the neither distal femoral physis nor heterotopic ossification. In conclusion we recommend this method as an excellent treatment modally for diaphyseal fractures of the femur in patients between 6 and 12 years of age