COMPRESSION PLATING OF ACUTE FEMORAL-SHAFT FRACTURES

Although intramedullary fixation has standardized the management of fe moral shaft fractures, compression plating may offer a viable alternat ive. A retrospective review of acute femoral shaft fractures managed b y open reduction and compression plating between 1980 and 1987 reveale d 71 fractures in 69 patients. There were 58 closed fractures, and six grade I and seven grade II open fractures. All patients received prop hylactic antibiotics. Sixty-nine percent of patients were bone grafted . Sixty-six of 71 fractures (93%) healed uneventfully. The average tim e until union was 16 weeks (range: 23 to 72). Complications included t wo nonunions, two refractures, and one broken implant (7%). Careful ad herence to the principles of prophylactic antibiotics, medial cancello us bone grafting, and meticulous soft tissue technique can significant ly reduce the complication rate of compression plating.