Clinical Experience with the A-O Plate in the Treatment of Femoral Shaft Fractures

The intramedullary nail is generally indicated for the treatment of fractures of the femoral shaft. In the present study, we used the A-O Plate, which is reputed to render early functional recovery for patients with this fracture by solid stabilization of the damaged bone segments using strong compression.The A-O Plate was used for the treatment of 46 fractures in 45 out of the 65 patients with a total of 67 fractures of the femoral shaft treated at our hospital between May 1985 and September 1988. The fractures were classified into simple, oblique or spiral fracture and tuft fractures. The formation of the callus, the period required for bone fusion, and the complications were all compared with the fracture type.Postoperatively, so-called primary bone healing was observed in anatomically well-reduced cases.Oblique or spiral fractures required a mean of 6.2 months for bone union, while tuft fractures needed 9.4 months on the average. In the latter, a broken plate, recurrence of the fracture, etc. were observed in 37.9% of the patients treated.