Experience with plate osteosynthesis in femoral shaft fractures

: Today, femoral shaft fractures are often treated by open or closed intramedullary nailing because of a lower rate of complications with this method. Therefore, the practice of plating these fractures is now decreasing. We studied the indications for nailing and for plating, as well as the indications when both methods can be used with the same results. At the University Clinic of Surgery in Graz, 107 femoral shaft fractures were plated between 1983-1986. We could find no higher incidence of complications between plating or nailing femoral fractures described by previous authors compared with our own results.