Intramedullary nails: should it be removed after fracture healing?

Mechanical failure of intramedullary nails after fracture union.

The case reports of four patients with breakage of the intramedullary nail of the femur are presented. In all four patients the nail broke after consolidation of the fracture of the femoral shaft. All the nails broke at the same place: the junction between the round cross-section and the cloverleaf cross-section.

Influence of fracture type and thickness of intramedullary nails on fracture healing – A numerical study

INTRODUCTION: It is common knowledge that the fracture healing process is strongly influenced by the mechanical behaviour of the bone implant complex (BIC) due to the resulting interfragmentary movement (IFM) of the bone fragments at the fracture site. Unreamed intramedullary nailing reduces the disturbance of blood supply in comparison to reamed nailing but leads to a more flexible stabilizati...

A 20-year retained guidewire, should it be removed?

Incidence of intramedullary nail removal after femoral shaft fracture healing.

INTRODUCTION There are limited data on hardware removal after femoral fracture healing. We determined the incidence of intramedullary nail (IMN) removal after midshaft femoral fractures. We also studied demographic factors influencing IMN removal. METHODS The senior author reviewed all adult femoral fractures with IMN placement in the trauma practice between July 1990 and November 2003. There...

Should the ruptured renal allograft be removed?

During a 16-month period when 93 renal transplants were performed, eight kidney graft ruptures were detected within 18 days of transplantation, without evidence of venous obstruction. Six grafts were removed at the time of an exploratory operation for rupture and only one showed signs of probable irreversible rejection when examined by microscopy. Two graft ruptures were repaired and one of the...