Retrograde Nail vs Distal Femoral Plate in Management of Distal Femur Fracture

Background Fractures of distal femur are responsible for about 3–6% of femur fractures. There are variable fixation methods of distal fractures of femur with different outcomes, among which are retrograde nailing and distal femoral plate. Deciding on which method of fixation might be challenging; therefore, this study was done to test each technique in the fixation regarding of early mobilization, healing time, operative time, motion range of knee, and also the complications that may happen. Methods A prospective study was performed at El-Helmeya military hospital from January 2022 to July 2022.The study included 40 patients diagnosed with fractures of distal femur . patients’ follow-up was extended to 6 months with assessment of the functional outcomes using the lower extremity functional scale(LEFS). Results Among the patients, mean of the age was 41.53 ± 20.1 years, and males accounted for 65% of the included patients. The femoral plate group had significantly longer time of operation , more blood loss, and a longer stay at hospital comparing to the retrograde nail. The femoral plate group required longer time for complete union: 15.4 ± 1.82 weeks versus 11.3 ± 1.49 weeks in the retrograde nail group (P-value < 0.001). Conclusion An intramedullary femoral nail might be superior to distal femoral plating in terms of short time of opeartion, less blood loss, shorter stays at hospital , and a shorter time to full union without change in postoperative complications.