Pattern and Treatment of Femoral Shaft Fracture in a Tertiary Hospital: One Year Retrospective Review

Femoral shaft fractures are common orthopaedic problems with interesting treatment evolution based on evolving clinical evidence. Though closed reduction and locked intramedullary nailing is the gold standard in adults, this requisite tools and skills for this option may be unavailable in some low income countries necessitating other treatment options. We retrospectively review the presentation pattern and treatment outcomes of 71 femoral shaft fractures in a tertiary center. Records of these patients who meet the inclusion criteria were recruited into the study. Relevant data was extracted for the patients’ folders and supplemented with calls to the patients where needed information was unavailable. Data was presented in frequency table and charts. Femoral shaft fractures represents 7.6% of the total number of patients with musculo-skeletal conditions seen at the studycentre within the study period with a male preponderance. Open reduction and locked Intramedullary nailing and hip Spica cast were was the treatment of choice in adults (62%,n=44/71) and children respectively (11.3%, n=8/71). Bone union rate at 12 weeks post intervention was (57.7%). This increased to 90.1% by the end of the eighteenth post-operative week. The most common complication was wound infection in open fractures (4.2%, n=3/71).