Broken intramedullary nails

Between 1962 and 1987, we treated fifty-six patients for sixty broken intramedullary nails, using a custom-made hook to extract the distal fragment of the nail. The charts and radiographs of all of the patients were reviewed. Thirty-nine of the nails had been inserted in a fresh fracture, which usua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of bone and joint surgery. American volume Vol. 70; no. 10; p. 1463
Main Authors Franklin, J L, Winquist, R A, Benirschke, S K, Hansen, Jr, S T
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.12.1988
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Bone Nails
Equipment Failure
Femoral Fractures - surgery
Humans
Methods
Middle Aged
Reoperation
Surgical Instruments
Tibial Fractures - surgery
Time Factors
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Summary:Between 1962 and 1987, we treated fifty-six patients for sixty broken intramedullary nails, using a custom-made hook to extract the distal fragment of the nail. The charts and radiographs of all of the patients were reviewed. Thirty-nine of the nails had been inserted in a fresh fracture, which usually was comminuted; eight had been used for fixation of an osteotomy; nine, for fixation of a non-union; and four, for treatment of a pathological fracture. Several small-diameter intramedullary nails broke at the site of the fracture or non-union. In contrast, the sites of breakage in the interlocking nails were the interlocking holes and the welded junction of the top insertional portion and the proximal slot. Many of the breakages were in patients who had an unstable fracture pattern. The interval between insertion and breakage ranged from one to 120 months.
ISSN:0021-9355
DOI:10.2106/00004623-198870100-00004