TY - JOUR AU1 - Nielsen, E. AU2 - Bonsu, N. AU3 - Andras, L. M. AU4 - Goldstein, R. Y. AB - AbstractPurposeTraditional teaching for fixation of paediatric femur fractures recommends 80% nail diameter/medullary canal diameter ratio (ND/MCD) for successful maintenance of reduction. Prior studies have investigated this with stainless steel Enders nails. Our aim was to assess the impact of ND/MCD on maintenance of reduction and malunion rates in paediatric femur fractures treated with flexible intramedullary nails (FINs).MethodsRetrospective data was collected on all paediatric patients treated with FINs for diaphyseal femur fractures at a single tertiary care institution over a ten-year period. Patients with co-morbidities affecting bone quality were excluded. Patients were subdivided into groups based on ND/MCD.ResultsA total of 66 patients met inclusion criteria. Mean ND/MCD was 76.3% (32.9% to 98.8%, SD 14.3). In all, 50% (n = 33/66) of patients had > 80% ND/MCD, and only 13.6% (n = 9/66) of patients had less than 60% ND/MCD. When controlling for fracture stability, ND/MCD had no correlation with mean shortening (p = 0.07) There was no correlation between ND/MCD and angulation in the sagittal (p = 0.96) or coronal plane (p = 0.20). Three patients fit malunion criteria. ND/MCD for these patients were 40%, 67% and 79%.ConclusionThere was no correlation between ND/MCD and shortening or malangulation. The majority of patients in this series with less than 80% fill with FIN healed within acceptable parameters.Level of EvidenceIII TI - The effect of canal fill on paediatric femur fractures treated with titanium elastic nails JF - Journal of Children's Orthopaedics DO - 10.1302/1863-2548.12.170083 DA - 2018-02-01 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/pubmed-central/the-effect-of-canal-fill-on-paediatric-femur-fractures-treated-with-CVjTAsUpGk SP - 15 EP - 19 VL - 12 IS - 1 DP - DeepDyve ER -