Unreamed intramedullary nailing of femoral shaft fractures: operative technique and early clinical experience with the standard locking option

Nailing techniques have changed in recent years in ways which are not just limited to omitting the reaming process. These changes concern positioning patients, techniques of reduction and selecting implants. Techniques of approach and exposure have been modified to new, less-invasive procedures to fulfill technical, functional and cosmetic requirements. In addition, techniques have been developed to avoid fragment diastasis, rotational and sagittal malalignment, and leglength discrepancy. Finally, simple algorithms have been elaborated for the management of specific fracture patterns (bilateral shaft fractures, ipsilateral tibial fractures or associated femoral neck fractures) and to determine the number and location of locking bolts. We developed these algorithms, techniques and procedures in a series of 133 femoral shafts, which were stabilized with the AO unreamed femoral nail (URFN) in a prospective study between 1991 and 1994. Of these, the first 57 cases with a mean follow-up of 17.9 months (range, 5–44) after injury were reviewed. Fractures were classified according to Müller's 1990 system: 12 type A, 29 type B and 16 type C. Closed soft-tissue injuries were classified by our classification of 1982: 17 type C O I , 42 type C II. Of 15 open fractures, six were OI, six OII, two OIIIA and one was OIIIB by Gustilo's classification of 1984. The major complications were two broken locking bolts, one nail breaking after 9 weeks, one case of osteitis and one of intra-operative lung embolism.