Removal of a broken intramedullary femoral nail with an unusual pattern of breakage: a case report

To the best of our knowledge, only 3 cases, including the present case, have been reported with a three part broken pattern. However, this is the first case associated with a distal locking screw broken. We report the case of a 31-year-old patient who sustained an open femoral shaft fracture . The fracture was stabilized with a Kuntcher femoral nail. After 7 months of the initial surgery he presented with a three part broken intramedullary nail and the distal locking screw broken. We used a combined technique for the removal of the nail through the nonunion fracture site; we used a pull out technique for the middle fragment and a curved thin hook for the distal fragment. Then we applied bone allograft and stabilized with a cannulated intramedullary femoral nail (Synthes, Oberdorf, Switzerland). After 2 years of follow up the nonunion was consolidated and the patient presented a good clinical outcome. This is of particular interest because it is a unique case and the association with a broken distal locking screw is reported for the first time in this study. A combination of methods through the nonunion site approach and an alternative instrumental is a good method for the removal of a hollow femoral intramedullary nail with this unusual pattern of breakage.