title: [Evaluation of the management of femoral shaft fractures in children by flexible intramedullary nailing].
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morphological and functional outcomes of femoral shaft fractures of the child using a centromedullary elastic nailing. We led a retrospective study including 22 children operated from January 1997 to December 2000 at the surgical emergency department of "Hôpital Aristide Le Dantec". The follow-up was made in the department of paediatric surgery. The patients included 16 boys and 6 girls presenting a total of 23 femoral shaft fractures. The main circumstance was traffic accident(15 cases). All the children underwent an ascending centromedullary elastic nailing controlled by a C-arm after a period of traction. The outcomes were appreciated after a period of 10 months. We observed: A union in all cases, four infections well managed by antibiotics, one vicious callus of 15 degrees, a mobility limitation of knee in two cases (45 degrees and 100 degrees), an inferior limb length inequality in one case, scabs in one patient who died at the 3rd month of a septicopyohemia. The functional evaluation of the outcomes (flexion, extension, limb length inequality) and morphological outcomes (axis, consolidation) showed 21 good results and one bad result. The centromedullary elastic nailing is a safe procedure owing to the low complication rates and the rapid consolidation allowing an early walk in femoral shaft fractures, compared with the orthopaedic treatment.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Chirurgie pédiatrique, Clinique Chirurgicale, Hôpital Aristide Le Dantec (HALD).
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ngom
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fall
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dieme
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Sy
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sane
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ba
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sankale
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ndoye
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D001858:Bone Nails; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D005592:Fracture Fixation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome