Complication of the Kuntscher Nailing in Fracture of the Femoral Shaft / 대한정형외과학회잡지

ABSTRACT

Several techniques are now avallable for the treatment of fractuers of the shaft of the femur. We must be aware of the advantages, disadvantages and Ilmitation of each if we are to select the proper treatment for each patient. During last decades treatment had been varied markedly from time to time and from place to place. Before Word War II, most fractures of the femoral shaft were treated conservatively either by skeletal traction or by manipulation and immobilization in a spica cast. After medullary fixation was Introduced during that war, it became popular, and until 1960 many surgeons considered it as the treatment of choice for most of these fractures. If the case is properly selected the medullary fixation is almost perfect, provlded no complications develop; convalescence can be shortened and resldual disability can be decreased. We had experienced 14 complications among the 78 cases of Kuntscher nailing from may, 1974, to May, 1980. The results are as follows 1. We operated 78 cases with Kuntscher nail among the 121 femoral shaft fractures. 2. 14 (17.95%) complications developed among the 78 cases of the Kuntscher nailing. 3. Technical errors were incarcerated nailing with thick nail, too long nail and thin nailing. 4. Early postoperative complications within a year were infection, bendlng, bursitis, angulation and rotation. 5. Late complications after one year were proximal or distal migration and refracture.