Resumen

OLASINDE, AA; OGUNLUSI, JD  y  IKEM, IC. Outcomes of the treatment of gunshot fractures of lower extremities with interlocking nails. SA orthop. j. [online]. 2012, vol.11, n.4, pp.48-51. ISSN 2309-8309.

Gunshot injuries are gradually on the increase in civilian populations in developing countries due to the increase in violence in our society. The treatment of fractures from such injuries is changing with the use of locked intramedullary nailing becoming an acceptable and effective method of fixation. The Surgical Implant Generation Network (SIGN) interlocking nail is gaining universal acceptance in developing countries due to its ease of use without the need for an image intensifier. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcome of the use of SIGN interlocking nailing in gunshot fractures of the lower limbs. This is a prospective study of all patients in three tertiary centres in developing countries who had gunshot fractures of the lower limbs fixed with SIGN nails from 1 June 2007 to 31 May 2009 and followed up for a period of two years. There were 28 patients with 31 fractures with an average age of 32.5 years ± 12.6 SD. All the patients were males except for one female. Fractures occurred in the femur in 20 (71.4%) and tibia in 11 (29.6%). The SIGN nail was used to fix all fractures, and union was achieved in all the patients. The most common complication was wound infection in five patients (15.2%). The intramedullary locked nail provided an effective method of fixation for gunshot fractures of the lower extremity with minimum complications.

Palabras clave : gunshot fracture; lower extremity; SIGN interlocking nail.

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