Rammohan Kodam1 , Banna Kiran Kumar2 , Jaoth Venkateshwarlu3 , Edvin Prasanth4
BACKGROUND Tibia is the most commonly fractured long bone, because of the exposed anatomical location which makes it vulnerable to the direct blow and high energy trauma as a result of vehicle accidents resulting in fractures. We wanted to compare the surgical management of middle third tibial shaft fracture and the time taken for union of fractures after reamed and unreamed nailing for tibial fractures. METHODS All confirmed cases of fracture shaft of tibia were taken up for the study. 30 cases including both males & females were studied. Cases were also followed up at an interval of 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months which extended up to October 2020. Results were evaluated every 4 - 6 weeks from the date of discharge. RESULTS There was no significant difference in union rate and union time between reamed and unreamed nailing. Highly comminuted fracture pattern may be the cause of malunion. In our study, infection was the cause of delayed union of proximal end of nail prominence above cortex which is the major cause for anterior knee pain. 86% of patients in the reamed group had excellent results whereas only 66.6% had excellent results in the unreamed group; 6% of patients in the reamed group and 20 % of patients in the unreamed group have good results. CONCLUSIONS Overall functional results are good with closed reamed intramedullary interlocking nailing compared to unreamed interlocking nailing.
