title: Intramedullary tibial nailing in distal third tibial fractures: distal locking screws and fracture non-union.
abstract: Distal third tibial fractures are prone to non-union following tibial nail insertion. The purpose of this study was to assess the union of distal third tibial fractures in patients who have undergone intra-medullary (IM) tibial nailing with one versus two distal locking screws. Sixty-five patients who had intramedullary tibial nail fixation were retrospectively analysed. Our results showed that 80% of non-unions in distal third fractures had only one distal locking screw compared to 20% who had two distal locking screws. This is statistically significant (p<0.01). We therefore conclude that two distal locking screws are essential for distal third fractures.
authors.affiliation: Trauma and Orthopaedics, The Royal London Hospital, London, UK. asobm@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Aso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammed
authors.forename: Ramaswamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saravanan
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zammit
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001858:Bone Nails; D001863:Bone Screws; D005260:Female; D005594:Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary / Q000379:methods*; D005599:Fractures, Ununited / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome