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Outcomes of dual plating for unstable distal femoral fractures: a subgroup comparison between periprosthetic and non-periprosthetic fractures

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of dual plating for unstable distal femoral fractures via a subgroup analysis between periprosthetic and non-periprosthetic fractures.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study analyzed the outcomes of dual plating for unstable distal femoral fractures among 49 consecutive patients (43 women and 6 men) enrolled from July 2008 to August 2020. The patients were divided into periprosthetic (group P, n = 29) and non-periprosthetic (group N, n = 20) groups. The radiographic outcomes included the mechanical lateral distal femoral angle (mLDFA) and union rate based on the computed tomography findings. The clinical parameters included the knee range of motion and knee society score (KSS).

Results

The mean patient age was 71.1 years, and the average follow-up period was 37 months (range, 12–138 months). Union was achieved in 47 patients (96%). The average final mLDFA was 90.5° in group P and 88.3° in group N. The average final knee range of motion was 130° in group P and 107° in group N. The average final KSS was 73.8 in group P and 87.1 in group N.

Conclusion

Dual plating for distal femoral fractures yielded an excellent union rate and limb alignment with a low complication rate.

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Data availability

The data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available because of the conditions of the ethics committee of our university.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2021R1A2C1012972).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naval Pohang Hospital, Republic of Korea Navy, Pohang, South Korea

    Jae Hyeon Seo

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 05505, Republic of South Korea

    Bum-Sik Lee, Jong-Min Kim & Ji Wan Kim

  3. Samsong Seoul Orthopaedic Clinic, Seoul, South Korea

    Jung Jae Kim

Authors
  1. Jae Hyeon Seo
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. J-HS wrote the entire manuscript as a first author. B-SL and J-MK contributed to material preparation, data collection and analysis as co-authors. J-JK contributed to surgical protocol description as a co-author. J-WK contributed to entire study process and quality control as a corresponding author. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ji Wan Kim.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. This single-center retrospective cohort study was approved by our institutional review board (Asan Institute for Life Science, approval no.: 2020–1282).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication

The authors affirm that human research participants provided informed consent for publication of the radiograph images in Figs. 2, 3, and 5.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing of interests.

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Seo, J.H., Lee, BS., Kim, JM. et al. Outcomes of dual plating for unstable distal femoral fractures: a subgroup comparison between periprosthetic and non-periprosthetic fractures. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 46, 2685–2692 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-022-05543-6

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