title: Treatment of open fractures of the tibial shaft with the use of interlocking nailing without reaming.
abstract: Fifty open fractures of the tibial shaft that were treated with débridement and interlocking nailing without reaming were followed for an average of twelve months. Most of the fractures were the result of high-energy trauma, and 68 per cent of the fracture wounds were grade III. Forty-eight (96 per cent) of the fifty fractures united at an average of seven months; there were no malunions. There were four infections (8 per cent), all at the sites of grade-III fractures. Locking screws broke in five tibiae (10 per cent), but the breakage did not result in a loss of reduction. Three nails broke, two at the sites of ununited fractures and one at the site of a healed fracture. These results are comparable with, or better than, those obtained with other forms of fixation, including immobilization with a cast, unlocked intramedullary nailing, and external fixation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic, Memphis 38103.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Whittle
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lavelle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001858:Bone Nails; D002146:Bony Callus; D005260:Female; D005594:Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary / Q000379:methods*; D017102:Fracture Healing; D005597:Fractures, Open / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000188:drug therapy; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome