Outcome of femoral shaft closed fracture treated by interlocking nail in patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of closed femoral shaft fractures managed with interlocking intramedullary nailing in patients. Study Design: Descriptive study. Setting: Department of Orthopedics, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar. Period: June 8 2023 to December 8, 2023. Methods: Using non-probability consecutive sampling, 70 patients with closed femoral shaft fractures, ages 18 to 70, were recruited. AP and lateral femoral X-rays as well as clinical assessment were used to diagnose fractures. Under spinal anesthetic, skilled orthopedic surgeons carried out the surgical fixing procedure. Callus bridging three cortices was considered radiological union, and the Thorensen criteria were used to evaluate functional outcomes. Six-month follow-up assessments were carried out. A p-value of less than 0.05 was deemed significant. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data, and chi-square tests were used for stratified comparisons. Results: Of the participants, 41.4% were female and 58.6% were male, with an mean age of 47.64 ± 14.03 years. 65.7% of patients had radiological union. Of the patients, 89.9% had an acceptable outcome, with functional outcomes being outstanding in 60.0%, good in 30.0%, fair in 7.1%, and bad in 2.9%. Results did not significantly correlate with smoking status, age, gender, diabetes, or hypertension. Conclusion: In closed femoral shaft fractures, interlocking intramedullary nailing is linked to a high percentage of radiographic union and satisfactory functional results. Comorbidities such smoking, diabetes, and high blood pressure had no discernible effect on the effectiveness of treatment.