Complications of blade plate removal

The AO fixed-angle blade plate is commonly used to obtain fixation in proxi mal femoral osteotomies. This device provides stable fixation and obviates the need for postoperative immobilization. There are no reports in the lite rature on the rate and types of complications associated with blade-plate r emoval. We report our rate and type of perioperative and early postoperativ e complications associated with removal of fixed-angle blade plates in a pe diatric population. With an overall complication rate of 5.3% and a major c omplication rate of 2.0%, our study showed that removal of the blade plate was a relatively safe procedure in those patients troubled by prominent/pai nful hardware or skin breakdown.