Augmentative plate fixation for the management of femoral nonunion with broken interlocking nail

Five patients with femoral nonunion and a broken interlocking nail were treated with the augmentative plating procedure. This group included two male and three female patients whose average age was 25 years (range, 21-35 years). All of the injuries resulted from traffic accidents and were closed fractures. Four of the injuries were initially managed with a Grosse-Kempf interlocking nailing system, and one case was managed with an AO interlocking nailing system. The broken interlocking nail was left in place in situ, and an augmentative plate fixation was applied to the fracture site to provide a rigid fixation. Simultaneous bone grafting was performed in three of the patients to repair the bony defect. All of these patients walked bearing full weight on the extremity without aching at the fracture site within 3 months, and all of these five fractures obtained a bony union within an average of 5.4 months after this treatment. From our experience, we have found this method to be a useful treatment for the nonunion of femoral shaft fracture with a broken interlocking nail.