Advantages and Complications Following Fassier-Duval Intramedullary Rodding in Children. Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND The report presents the authors' experience with Fassier-Duval rods in children and an analysis of advantages and complications. MATERIAL AND METHODS Over a period of 15 months, the authors operated on 10 children and 18 rod implantation procedures were performed. In five cases, the implantation was a primary procedure, while in the remaining 13 cases Fassier-Duval rods were used to replace short Rush rods. RESULTS The mean follow-up was 18 months. Four children developed the following complications: lateral rod displacement within the distal epiphysis, male rod displacement outside the epiphysis ("negative telescoping"), retrograde displacement of the male rod from the distal epiphysis to the metaphysis and retrograde displacement of the female element beyond the greater trochanter. CONCLUSIONS 1. FD rodding allows for decreasing the number of operations because the nails need not be replaced as the child grows older. 2. FD rod implantation is limited by the size of the medullary cavity of the bone, and thus the age of the patient.