Presentation and outcome of femoral infected non-unions in children and adolescents

  • Karim Bakhsh
  • Faridullah Khan Zimri
  • Eid Mohammad
  • Atiq -Ur-Rehman
  • Muhammad Saaiq National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM), Street No.9, G-8/2, Islamabad.
Keywords: Ilizarov technique, Ilizarov method, Non-union, femur fractures, Road traffic accident

Abstract

Objectives: To document the presentation of infected non-unions of femur in pediatric and adolescent population and evaluate the outcome of segmental bone transport with the Ilizarov method.

Methods: This prospective case series study was carried out over a period of five years, from January 01, 2015 to December 31, 2019. The study included all children and adolescent patients who presented with femoral infected non unions. The study excluded patients above the age of 16 years and those who had pathological fractures secondary to bone pathologies such as cysts, tumors or metabolic bone diseases.

Results: Out of 31 patients, 27(87.09%) were males and 4(12.90%) were females. The mean age was 13.48±1.98 years. The underlying mechanisms that lead to the causation of fractures included road traffic accidents (n=23;74.19%), fall from height (n=7;22.58%) and firearm injuries (n=1;3.22%). The bone gaps ranged from 3-5 cm with a mean of 4.00± 0.856 cm. Bone union was achieved among 28(90.32%) patients. Infection was eradicated among 27(87.09%) patients whereas the remaining patients continued to suffer persistent infection. The most common complications included pin tract inflammation/ infection among (n=31;100%) patients and stiffness of knee joint among (n=19;61.29%) patients.

Conclusion: Majority of the patients were males, aged 9-16 years. Road traffic accidents were the commonest cause of the fractures. The Ilizarov method of segmental bone transport was effective in treating the majority of infected non-unions.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.3354

How to cite this:
Bakhsh K, Zimri FK, Mohammad E, Atiq-Ur-Rehman, Saaiq M. Presentation and outcome of femoral infected non-unions in children and adolescents. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(1):201-205. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.3354

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published
2020-12-08
How to Cite
Bakhsh, K., Zimri, F. K., Mohammad, E., -Ur-Rehman, A., & Saaiq, M. (2020). Presentation and outcome of femoral infected non-unions in children and adolescents. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.3354