A prospective study of surgical outcome of distal femoral fractures treated with locking compression plate

Abstract

Introduction: Supracondylar fractures of the femur are becoming more common and are very challenging injuries to treat. These fractures occur in two different age groups -due to different types of injuries. In young patients these fractures occur due to high velocity injury such as road traffic accidents, fire arm injuries and sports injuries. While in elderly patients usually low velocity injury like fall during walking, results in supracondylar fractures of the femurMaterials and Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in the Department of Orthopaedics, Maharaja Institute of Medical Sciences. Nellimarla, Vizianagaram from January 2020 to October  2020. A total of 50 patients with distal femoral fractures were included in the study as per the inclusion criteria outlined previously. On admission detailed examination of the patients was carried out after hemodynamic stabilization. Then standard Antero-Posterior and Lateral view X-Rays are taken, and the fracture configuration noted. Computerized Tomography is also taken when needed to assess the exact alignment of the fragments. Results: The following were the observations made in the present study. The total number of patients was 50 with 30 males (60%) and 20 females (40%) . The youngest age in our study was 19 and the oldest age is 65. High incidence is found in 21 to 40 years age group with males are more common due to high velocity injuries. In more than 50 years age group females are predominantly affected mainly due to low velocity injuries.Conclusion: The Distal Femur-Locking Compression Plate is a good implant to use for fractures of the distal femur. However, accurate positioning and fixation are required to produce satisfactory results. Our results are encouraging with 72% of the patients having good to excellent results. Therefore, locking compression plate has a significant advantage with excellent results in treating distal femoral fractures.