title: Tibial shaft fracture after removal of an ACE tibial nail.
abstract: Intramedullary interlocking nailing is the gold standard method for treatment of tibial shaft fractures. Thus, the growing use of the intramedullary nailing resulted in an increased number of tibial nails removal procedures in daily clinical practice. Despite adequate surgeon experience, the removal of tibial intramedullary nails is not without complications. One of the commonly used nails is the ACE (DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Warsaw, IN, USA). The purpose of this paper is to report such a complication following the removal procedure and review the pertinent literature. A 39-year-old female who had sustained a lower-third tibial fracture was treated with an intramedullary nail 5 years ago. Despite her unremarkable follow-up, for personal reasons, a removal procedure was planned. Two undisplaced fractures were observed in the postoperative radiological evaluation. The potential complications of the removal of intramedullary nailing of the tibia should be considered by both physician and patient.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Orthopaedics, University of Athens, Medical School, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Loannis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sourlas
authors.forename: Michalis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papadakis
authors.forename: Stergios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lallos
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brilakis
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Efstathopoulos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001858:Bone Nails; D020878:Device Removal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005594:Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D012086:Reoperation; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed