Assessing leg length discrepancy following elastic stable intramedullary nailing for paediatric femoral diaphyseal fractures

Abstract

ESIN is a successful treatment for paediatric diaphyseal femoral fractures and allows early mobilisation and discharge. A statistically significant LLD is observed in children aged 4-8 years although clinically only one patient in the entire series was aware of a leg length discrepancy. In addition clinical methods of leg length measurement are sensitive for LLD and we conclude that routine radiographic follow up is not necessary unless clinically indicated.

Fraturas instáveis do fêmur em crianças tratadas com hastes intramedulares elásticas de titânio

“…These fractures in children generally result from high-energy trauma, as observed in the present sample (5) . Flexible intramedullary nails are considered to be a safe and minimally invasive method with relatively low complication rates (21) .…”

“…Surgical treatment enables early mobilization and has become an alternative of interest, especially for children presenting multiple trauma, cranial-encephalic trauma, floating knee, multiple fractures and vascular injuries (3,5,15,19,20) , which occur mainly in cases of high-energy trauma.…”

“…Flexible intramedullary nails are considered to be a safe and minimally invasive method with relatively low complication rates (21) . Studies have demonstrated that surgical treatment with flexible intramedullary nails successfully achieves the objective of treating pediatric femoral diaphysis fractures and also enables early mobilization and weight-bearing (5,17) .…”

“…The length of hospital stay is short. Few problems are found in removing the synthesis material, and the patients' satisfaction rate is high (5) .…”

“…In children and adolescents, these fractures present bimodal distribution, with peaks at between two and three years of age (5.9/10,000/ year) and at 17-18 years (4.2/10,000/year) (4) . The commonest causes are falls, bicycle and motorcycle accidents, and road accidents (5) .…”