Indirect reduction and plate fixation, without grafting, for periprosthetic femoral shaft fractures about a stable intramedullary implant. Surgical Technique.

BACKGROUND: The application of indirect reduction techniques has improved fracture-healing and reduced the need for bone-grafting compared with the outcomes of older, direct reduction techniques. We investigated the results of such indirect reduction techniques for the treatment of periprosthetic femoral shaft fractures. METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients with a femoral shaft fracture about a stable intramedullary implant (a Vancouver Type-B1 fracture) were treated with a protocol that included open reduction with use of indirect reduction techniques and internal fixation with a single lateral plate without structural allografting or other bone-grafting. Four patients died in the early postoperative period, and five had inadequate follow-up. The remaining forty-one patients (average age, seventy-two years) were evaluated clinically and radiographically at an average of twenty-four months. RESULTS: All fractures healed in satisfactory alignment at an average of twelve weeks (range, seven to twenty-three weeks) after the index procedure. One patient had one fractured cable and two others had one fractured screw, but all of the fractures healed without evidence of implant loosening or malalignment. There was one deep infection in the perioperative period. Thirty of the forty-one patients returned to their baseline ambulatory status. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the use of indirect open reduction and internal fixation with a single extraperiosteal lateral plate, without the use of allograft struts, for the treatment of a femoral shaft fracture about a stable intramedullary implant.

Distraction external fixation in lateral compression pelvic fractures.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the results and describe the technique of closed reduction and placement of a two-pin supra-acetabular external fixator, followed by immediate weight bearing, in the treatment of displaced vertically stable lateral compression pelvic fractures. DESIGN: Prospective, consecutive. SETTING: Regional trauma center. PATIENTS: A consecutive series of fourteen patients with displaced, vertically stable lateral compression pelvic fractures who were transported to a regional trauma center. INTERVENTION: Surgical treatment with closed reduction and maintenance of the distraction force with a two-pin, single-bar, supra-acetabular external fixator, followed by immediate weight bearing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Healing rate and time, operative blood loss and time, quality of reduction, time to full weight-bearing, and incidence of complications, including neurovascular deficits, loss of reduction, nonunion, pin tract infections, and chronic pain. RESULTS: A symmetric reduction of both hemipelves was achieved in all fourteen patients. Time to healing averaged 8.2 weeks (seven to twelve weeks), and no fixator required removal before healing. There were no delayed unions or nonunions, and none of the fractures displaced significantly after initial reduction. Average surgical time was thirty-seven minutes (range, twenty-five to sixty minutes) with an estimated blood loss of less than fifty milliliters. Patients were allowed to bear full weight immediately and were able to do so without ambulatory assistive devices within an average of twelve days (range, three to eighteen days). Complications consisted of three minor pin tract infections, one temporary lateral femoral cutaneous nerve palsy, one late pin tract abscess, and one patient with chronic low-back pain. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of type B lateral compression injuries of the pelvic ring with anterior distraction external fixation is a highly effective yet relatively simple and minimally invasive treatment method. Surgical time and blood loss are minimal, and patients can be effectively and rapidly mobilized. Based on our experience, we believe this method to be a valuable tool in the treatment of these fractures.

Indirect reduction and plate fixation, without grafting, for periprosthetic femoral shaft fractures about a stable intramedullary implant.

BACKGROUND: The application of indirect reduction techniques has improved fracture-healing and reduced the need for bone-grafting compared with the outcomes of older, direct reduction techniques. We investigated the results of such indirect reduction techniques for the treatment of periprosthetic femoral shaft fractures. METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients with a femoral shaft fracture about a stable intramedullary implant (a Vancouver Type-B1 fracture) were treated with a protocol that included open reduction with use of indirect reduction techniques and internal fixation with a single lateral plate without structural allografting or other bone-grafting. Four patients died in the early postoperative period, and five had inadequate follow-up. The remaining forty-one patients (average age, seventy-two years) were evaluated clinically and radiographically at an average of twenty-four months. RESULTS: All fractures healed in satisfactory alignment at an average of twelve weeks (range, seven to twenty-three weeks) after the index procedure. One patient had one fractured cable and two others had one fractured screw, but all of the fractures healed without evidence of implant loosening or malalignment. There was one deep infection in the perioperative period. Thirty of the forty-one patients returned to their baseline ambulatory status. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the use of indirect open reduction and internal fixation with a single extraperiosteal lateral plate, without the use of allograft struts, for the treatment of a femoral shaft fracture about a stable intramedullary implant. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level IV.

Infrapectineal plating for acetabular fractures: a technical adjunct to internal fixation.

Acetabular fractures with medial displacement patterns, particularly medial displacement of the quadrilateral surface, may be technically challenging to treat. Minimal bone stock, limited anatomic access, and difficulty in obtaining stable internal fixation in the true pelvis contribute to the surgical challenge of open reduction and internal fixation. Applying a medial buttress plate across the quadrilateral plate below the iliopectineal line in the true pelvis can be a helpful adjunct to internal fixation in these fractures. The quadrilateral plate is approached from the opposite side of the injury through a standard ilioinguinal approach or a modified Stoppa approach. An undercontoured plate is secured posteriorly along the sciatic buttress posterior to the joint and the quadrilateral plate and anteriorly on the posterior surface of the pubic ramus. By resisting medial secondary redisplacement, this technique adds to stable fixation for acetabular fractures involving medial displacement, particularly of the quadrilateral plate.

Midline sagittal sacral fractures in anterior-posterior compression pelvic ring injuries.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of an uncommon variant of the anterior-posterior compression pelvic injury, in which the posterior ring injury is a midline sagittal sacral fracture extending into the spinal canal. DESIGN: Prospective, consecutive series. SETTING Two regional trauma centers. PATIENTS: A consecutive series of 10 patients with rotationally displaced, vertically stable anterior-posterior compression pelvic ring fractures (OTA type 61-B1) in which the posterior ring injury is a midline sagittally oriented sacral fracture involving the spinal canal (Denis zone III). This injury pattern comprised 0.6% of pelvic fractures and 1.4% of sacral fractures treated at these two institutions during a 10-year period. INTERVENTION: Patients were treated according to the same principles used in more commonly seen types of anterior-posterior compression pelvic ring injuries. Nine patients were treated with reduction and anterior pelvic stabilization at an average of 5 days after injury, 8 of whom were treated with open reduction and internal fixation and 1 with external fixation. No posterior pelvic fixation was used. One patient with nondisplaced bilateral pubic ramus fractures was treated nonoperatively. Immediate weight bearing was allowed as tolerated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Prospectively collected clinical follow-up data emphasized a detailed neurologic examination, whereas radiographic evaluation involved anteroposterior, inlet, and outlet plain radiographic views of the pelvis. RESULTS: An anatomical or near-anatomical reduction of the pelvis was achieved and maintained in all patients. Fractures healed at an average of 10 weeks. At an average follow-up of 31 months (range 20-46 months), there were no objective neurologic deficits that could be attributed to sacral root injury and no significant residual pain or gait disturbance related to the pelvic fracture. Loss of bowel or bladder function, loss of perianal sensation or sphincter tone, and lumbosacral radicular pain or sensorimotor deficit were specifically absent in all patients. Three patients, however, complained of sexual dysfunction at final follow-up. None of these patients had clinical evidence of sacral root/plexus injury secondary to the fracture. One additional patient, who sustained a urethral tear, required a chronic suprapubic catheter because of stricture. Six patients, one of whom had needed repair of a retroperitoneal bladder tear, had no urogenital sequelae. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Patients who sustain sagittally oriented midline fractures of the sacrum that extend into the spinal canal (Denis zone III) as part of displaced, vertically stable anterior-posterior compression pelvic injuries, have a low incidence of neurologic deficit attributable to sacral root or plexus injury. This is in contrast to the high rate of neurologic deficit (>50%) otherwise reported in zone III sacral fractures, particularly in those associated with a displaced transverse component. In the midline sagittal fracture variant, simultaneous lateral displacement of both bony and neural elements through the midline may protect the sacral roots and plexi from significant traction or shear injury by maintaining the spatial orientation between the sacral foramina and sciatic notch. Long-term sequelae were related to urogenital complaints rather than to musculoskeletal problems, as 4 of the 10 patients in this series had either sexual or urologic dysfunction.

Indirect reduction and plating of distal femoral nonunions.

OBJECTIVE: To observe and report the clinical results of indirect reduction and plating in the treatment of distal femoral nonunions. DESIGN: Prospective consecutive study. SETTING: Regional trauma center. PATIENTS: A consecutive series of twenty patients with nonunion of the distal femur, nineteen of whom had undergone operative initial fracture care. INTERVENTION: Surgical treatment with indirect reduction techniques using the 95-degree condylar blade-plate, condylar buttress plate, or locking condylar plate with autologous cancellous bone grafting in 45 percent of patients. Emphasis was placed on preoperative planning, intraoperative attention to soft tissue sparing, and selection of the appropriately applied implant to correct deformity, when present, and obtain union. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Healing rate and time, operative blood loss and time, incidence of complications including instrumentation failure, loss of fixation, infection, and postoperative malalignment. Both the Böstman and Hospital for Special Surgery knee scores were used to quantify postoperative clinical results at an average follow-up of twenty-three months (range 12 to 60 months). RESULTS: All twenty nonunions healed without further intervention at an average of fourteen weeks (range 12 to 20 weeks) postoperatively. There were no intraoperative complications. Average operative time was 154 minutes (range 90 to 240 minutes), and blood loss was 245 milliliter (range 100 to 400 milliliters). Average Böstman knee score improved from eighteen to twenty-five points, and average Hospital for Special Surgery score improved from fifty-eight to eighty points. Average arc of knee motion improved from 92 to 110 degrees. There was no patient with significant postoperative axial or rotational malalignment (>5 degrees) or limb length discrepancy (more than one centimeter). One patient with a history of osteomyelitis became infected postoperatively and healed without consequence after a debridement procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Contemporary plating techniques are effective in the treatment of distal femoral nonunions. Union occurred reliably with few complications, resulting in a majority of good or excellent clinical results.