RESUMO
Twenty five patients with twenty six limbs that had ipsilateral femoral and tibial fractures were treated operatively. Road traffic injuries were the main causes of injuries. Twenty three cases were closed fractures femur and three cases were open grade I fractures. All femoral fractures were treated with closed unreamed nails. Closed tibial fractures were 21 cases and treated with unreamed nails for diaphyseal fractures and AO places for tibial plateau fractures. Five cases were open fractures tibiae: one was grade one, two were grade II and the last two were grade three. Open tibial fractures were treated with external fixators. The average follow-up was 30.1 months [range 24-51 monthg]. All femoral fractures united within 3-8 months with one case required additional bone graft operation. Twenty three tibiae united within 3 to 9 months. One tibia was infected and treated with removal of nail and external fixator and united after 11 months. The other two tibiae had multiple operations; one of them eventually united after 19 months and the last tibia still not united with infection. Full range of knee motion was found in 21 cases while 5 cases had limited knee motion. Nineteen ceases had no shortening, five cases had shortening less than two cm, and two cases had shortening 2-5 cm. One case had respiratory distress syndrome with showers of fat emboli and treated medically. The end results were nineteen cases with excellent results, five limbs with good results and two limbs with poor results