Retrograde nailing for distal femur fractures in the elderly

Abstract

Introduction: We report the results of treating a series of 56 fractures in 54 elderly patients with a distal femur fracture with a retrograde femoral nail. Methods: Fifty-four of the nails were inserted percutaneously with a closed reduction. After surgery all patients were allowed to weight bear as tolerated. Four fractures were supported in a temporary external splint. Results: The mean age of patients was 80.6 years (range 51–103 years), 52/54 (96%) were females. There were no cases of nail related complications and no re-operations were required. One patient was lost to follow up. The 30-day mortality was 5/54 (9.3%) and the one year mortality was 17/54 (31.5%). Conclusions: Distal femoral nail fixation provides a good method of fixation allowing immediate mobilisation for this group of patients.

Keywords

• Distal femur fracture
• Retrograde nail
• Union
• Complications
• Mortality