Analysis of risk factors for nonunion after surgery for femoral shaft fractures / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for nonunion after surgery for femoral shaft fractures in order to reduce them.Methods:The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed of the 804 patients with femoral shaft fracture who had been treated from January 2014 to December 2020 at Department of Orthopaedics, Xijing Hospital. There were 575 males and 229 females, aged from 18 to 96 years (average, 43.7 years). The patients were divided into 2 groups according to whether nonunion had occurred after surgery a nonunion group of 112 cases and a fracture healing group of 692 cases. The preoperative general data, such as age, gender and fracture type, as well as intraoperative and postoperative data, such as operation time, internal fixation method, reduction method and internal fixation failure, were compared between the 2 groups. Items with P<0.05 were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify the risk factors for nonunion. Results:There were statistically significant differences between the nonunion group and the fracture healing group in smoking history, drinking history, injury mechanism, injury type, multiple injuries, fracture AO classification, fixation method, internal fixation failure, postoperative infection and use of non-steroid anti-inflammtory drugs ( P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking ( OR=3.261, 95% CI 2.072 to 5.133, P<0.001), high energy injury ( OR=2.010, 95% CI 1.085 to 3.722, P=0.026), multiple injuries ( OR=3.354, 95% CI 1.985 to 5.669, P<0.001), AO type 32-C fracture (type 32-C fracture used as a reference, P=0.034), internal fixation failure ( OR=3.517, 95% CI 1.806 to 6.849, P<0.001), external stent fixation (external stent fixation used as a reference, P=0.009) were the risk factors for nonunion after femoral shaft fractures. Conclusions:After surgery for patients with femoral shaft fracture, special attention should be paid to those with a smoking habit, high-energy injury, multiple injuries, AO type 32-C fracture, external stent fixation or a failed internal fixation, because they are high-risk groups prone to postoperative nonunion.