Biological plating of comminuted fractu res of femur and tibia

BACKGROUND: The treatment of comminuted fractures in long bones has continued to be a problem in orthopedic surgery. Recently, fixation without exploration of the fracture site, known as biologic fixation , has been introduced. This study was performed to assess the results and complications of this method for the treatment of comminuted fractures of the tibia and femur. METHODS: The study included 41 patients with comminuted fractures of the tibia and femur treated with biologic plating from 2003 to 2006 (25 femur fractures and 16 tibial fractures) . After biological fixation joint motion was started but weight bearing was avoided until radiographic evidence of union was shown. RESULTS: The mean time of union in the tibial fractures was 19 (PLUS-MINUS) 2 weeks and 17 (PLUS-MINUS) 2 weeks for the femur fractures. All patients had fracture union without any infection, non-union or implant failure . In one patient with a femur fracture there was a 10° internal rotation deformity. Two of the femoral fractures had shortening of 1 cm, and one patient had shortening of about 2 cm. Compared to similar studies, all results were statistically significant (P(LESS THAN)0.05) . CONCLUSIONS: The biologic plating method is a safe, simple and effective method of fixation for comminuted fractures of long bones. It has a high rate of union with minimal complications.