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A Newly Designed Intramedullary Nail for the Treatment of Diaphyseal Forearm Fractures in Adults

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Abstract

Background

The treatment of diaphyseal forearm fractures using open reduction and plate fi xation is generally accepted as the best choice in many studies. However, periosteal stripping, haematoma evacuation may result in delayed union, nonunion and infection. Refracture after plate removal is another concern. To overcome these problems intramedullary nails (IM) with different designs have been used with various outcomes. However previous IM nails have some shortcomings such is rotational instability and interlocking difficulties. We evaluated the results of newly designed IM nail in the treatment of diaphyseal forearm fractures in adults.

Materials and Methods

32 patients who had been treated with the interlocking IM nail for forearm fractures between 2011 and 2014 were included in this study. There were 23 males and 9 females with mean age of 36 years (range 18-68 years). 22 patients (68.8%) had both bone fractures. Nine patients (28.1%) had open fractures. The remaining ten patients (31.2%) had radius or ulna fractures. Grace and Eversmann rating system was used to assess functional evaluation. Patient reported outcomes were assessed using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire scores.

Results

Union was achieved in all patients. The mean followup was 17 months (range 13 – 28 months). According to the Grace-Eversmann criteria, 27 patients (87.5%) had excellent or good results. The mean DASH score was 14 (range 5-36). Overall complication rate was 12.5%. Superfi cial infection was encountered in two patients. One patient had delayed union, however fracture healed without any additional surgical procedure. One patient who had open grade 3A, comminuted proximal third radius fracture developed radioulnar synostosis.

Conclusion

The new design IM interlocking forearm nail provides satisfactory functional and radiological outcomes in the treatment of adult diaphyseal forearm fractures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Göztepe Training and Research Hospital, Medeniyet University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Abdullah Demirtaş

  2. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Dicle University Medical Faculty, Diyarbakır, Turkey

    Celil Alemdar, Mehmet Gem, Kadir Uzel & Huseyin Arslan

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Research, The Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, PA, Sheridan Building, 10th Floor, 125, South 9th Street, Suite 1000, 19107, Philadelphia, USA

    Ibrahim Azboy

Authors
  1. Ibrahim Azboy
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  2. Abdullah Demirtaş
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  3. Celil Alemdar
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  4. Mehmet Gem
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  5. Kadir Uzel
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  6. Huseyin Arslan
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Correspondence to Ibrahim Azboy.

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This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

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Azboy, I., Demirtaş, A., Alemdar, C. et al. A Newly Designed Intramedullary Nail for the Treatment of Diaphyseal Forearm Fractures in Adults. IJOO 51, 697–703 (2017). https://doi.org/10.4103/ortho.IJOrtho_79_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/ortho.IJOrtho_79_16

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