Progress about Surgical Approach in Treatment of Tibia Shaft Fracture with Intramedullary Nail / 现代生物医学进展

ABSTRACT

Tibia shaft fracture is the most common long bone fractures clinically and intramedullary nail fixation is the best choice due to superior biomechanical characteristics for unstable tibia shaft fractures.At present,the common approaches for intramedullary nail insertion are divided into supra-patellar approach and infra-patellar approach.The semi-extended position of supra-patellar approach contributes to better fracture reduction but lead to potential patella-femoral cartilage injury.In contrast,flexion or hyper-flexion position of infra-patellar approach might result in unsatisfactory fracture reduction,then have an impact on clinical outcome.Therefore,the clinical outcome might be different because of approach choice.However,there is no consensus about the optimal surgical approach for intramedullary nailing.Thus,we performed the review to discuss the approaches for tibia intramedullary nailing and compare their strengths and weaknesses.