Re-fracture after Osteosynthesis of Femoral Shaft Fracture in Osteopetrosis

This study presents a case report of a 54-year-old female patient with osteopetrosis who experienced re-fracture after undergoing osteosynthesis for a femoral shaft fracture. The patient visited our emergency department for a right distal femur fracture. The patient had undergone surgery for a right femoral shaft fracture six years prior to this visit, at which time osteopetrosis was diagnosed at another medical facility. Following three years of postoperative care, successful osteosynthesis was achieved, and the surgical implant was removed. The re-fracture occurred at the site of the previous screw fixation which had not healed sufficiently. We performed an open reduction and internal fixation. We concluded that, during fracture surgery in patients with osteopetrosis, caution should be exercised as technical challenges like thermal injury may arise due to the hardness of the bone. Furthermore, careful evaluation is necessary when considering implant removal because of increased recurrent fracture risk.