Distal femoral locked plating versus retrograde nailing for extra articular distal femur fractures: A comparative study

Abstract

Background: Distal femoral fractures are among challenging orthopaedic injuries. Precontoured locked plating and retrograde nailing are two trending methods of fracture fixation in such patients. Purpose of present study was to compare precontoured distal femur locked plating and retrograde intramedullary nailing for treatment of extra articular type A distal femur fractures.Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized study including 32 patients of extra articular distal femur fracures, was conducted in the department of orthopedic surgery, KGMU Lucknow. Patients were divided in two groups by random allocation. Patients of group I (18 patients) were treated by distal femoral locked plating and group II (14 patients) by retrograde distal femoral nailing using standard technique.Results: The mean age of group I and group II was 48.00±15.65 & 40.43±14.39 years respectively. The female – male ratio for both groups was matched (p=.075). The time of full weight bearing was significantly (p=0.004) less in nailing group. Bone union was seen earlier in group II (DFN) and it came to be statistically significant (p value-0.0006). Knee pain was present in 42.86% of patients in group II and it came out to be statistically significant (p