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Reamed versus unreamed intramedullary locked nailing in tibial fractures

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Abstract

The purpose of this prospective observational study is to identify whether or not reaming of tibial shaft fractures has benefits over unreamed intramedullary locked nailing. Eighty-four adult patients with recent open and closed tibial shaft fractures were treated with reamed or unreamed intramedullary locked nail fixation. We followed up for 12 months 39 of 43 patients in the unreamed and 38 of 41 patients in the reamed group, respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the average time to healing for both clinical (3.2 vs 3.4 months, p = 0.65) and radiological (4.1 vs 4.5 months, p = 0.43) evaluations. The mean duration of surgery was shorter (p = 0.025) for the unreamed group 43 min (SD 18) compared to 55 (SD 27), but the main determinants were the fracture type and the surgeon’s experience. We conclude that reamed nailing proved beneficial, but the impact on overall outcome is not superior to unreamed nailing.

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Conflict of interest

This research received no specific Grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. All named authors hereby declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I-st Discipline of Orthopedics and Trauma, Emergency Clinical County Hospital, University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘Victor Babes’ Timisoara, 10 Iosif Bulbuca Blvd, Orthopedics and Trauma Building, 300736, Timisoara, Romania

    Bogdan Deleanu, Radu Prejbeanu, Dinu Vermesan & Horia Haragus

  2. II-nd Discipline of Orthopedics and Trauma, Emergency Clinical County Hospital, University of Medicine and Pharmacy ‘Victor Babes’ Timisoara, 10 Iosif Bulbuca Blvd, Orthopedics and Trauma Building, 300736, Timisoara, Romania

    Dan Poenaru

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  1. Bogdan Deleanu
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  2. Radu Prejbeanu
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  3. Dan Poenaru
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  4. Dinu Vermesan
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  5. Horia Haragus
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Correspondence to Horia Haragus.

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Deleanu, B., Prejbeanu, R., Poenaru, D. et al. Reamed versus unreamed intramedullary locked nailing in tibial fractures. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 24, 1597–1601 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-013-1401-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-013-1401-0

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