Not many years ago the use of traction and application of hip spica cast were standard treatments for all femoral shaft fractures in children. 2 However, the management of femoral shaft fractures in children above the age of five years has tilted more towards an operative option in the last two decades attributed to low incidence of malunion, short hospital stays, cost effectiveness and early a...

Flexible intramedullary nails are now routinely used for stabilization of pediatric femur fractures. Few data are available regarding patients' postoperative range of motion, weight-bearing status, activity levels, use of immobilization, and radiographic leg length discrepancy measured via routine scanograms. Patients who underwent placement of flexible intramedullary nails for a pediatric femu...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of flexible intramedullary Ender nails for the treatment of tibial diaphyseal. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a retrospective review of patients treated with the Ender Nail for both open and closed tibial shaft fractures. Between January 1989 and December 1994, 43 fractures were treated with these nails. The configuration of each fracture was determined using t...

©2004 British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery doi:10.1302/0301-620X.86B7. 15273 $2.00 J Bone Joint Surg [Br] 2004;86-B:947-53. Over the past few years there has been a marked increase in the use of intramedullary fixation in the management of fractures of long bones in children. To some extent this reflects a more interventionist attitude among paediatric orthopaedic surgeons but is...