Femur fractures in burn patients: A 22-year case series

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to report our experience caring for burn patients with femur fractures and to compare outcomes of fractures treated with internal fixation within and after 48 h of injury. Twenty femur fractures were identified in the 17 burn patients. Two patients died prior to definitive fixation of their fractures. Of the fractures fixed internally within 48 h, 60% (6 out of 10) of fractures went on to predicted union and 44% of patients had systemic complications. Of the fractures treated after 48 h, only 25% (2 out of 8) went onto predicted union and all patients had significant systemic complications. To our knowledge, this is the largest series of femur fractures in burn patients reported, and in this series early internal fixation was associated with more favorable outcomes.

Keywords

• Union
• Polytrauma
• Collocated burns
• Internal fixatio