International Journal of Research in Orthopaedics | January-February 2019 | Vol 5 | Issue 1 Page 1 International Journal of Research in Orthopaedics Bahinipati J et al. Int J Res Orthop. 2019 Jan;5(1):xxx-xxx http://www.ijoro.org Original Research Article Observational study on titanium elastic nailing in femoral shaft fractures in children Jyotirtmayee Bahinipati 1 , R. G. Asutosh Mohapatra 2 * INTRODUCTION Fracture of shaft of femur is a common fracture in children, which has usually been treated conservatively. In children, fractures of femoral shaft are commonly treated by various types of traction for about three weeks, followed by plaster cast immobilization. 1 This safe form of treatment has two major drawbacks. The first is that prolonged bed rest separates the child from his normal environment; the second is the cost of such periods in hospital and the use of beds which might serve other patients. Because of rapid healing and spontaneous correction of angulations, most of the femoral shaft fractures in children younger than five years of age can be treated conservatively. But, above six years of age, such fractures when treated non operatively could have, loss of reduction, malunion, intolerance and complications associated with plaster. Near the end of skeletal maturity, accurate reduction is necessary as angular deformity is no longer correctable by growth. 2 Therefore, the best treatment in older child i.e. between five to fifteen years of age is a matter of debate. Since the last two decades, there has been a growing tendency towards an operative approach in femoral shaft fractures in children of school going age. Successful treatment with external fixation, plating and solid ante grade intramedullary nailing has been reported. However, the risk of certain complications (particularly pin track infection and refracture after external fixation or avascular necrosis after solid antegrade intramedullary nailing) has prevented these methods from becoming adopted as the best treatment. ABSTRACT Background: Nowadays femoral fractures in children are more commonly managed with operative fixation rather than conservative treatment because of more rapid recovery and avoidance of prolonged immobilization. Our aim of study was to assess the outcome of titanium elastic nailing in femoral shaft fracture in children. Methods: Twenty five children in age group 5-15 years with femoral shaft fracture were stabilized with two titanium nails. Children were followed up for one year. The operative outcome was evaluated using criteria of Flynn. Complications associated with procedure were recorded and analyzed. Results: The final outcome was excellent in 67% (19 of 25) of patients, satisfactory in 16% (4 of 25) of patients and poor in 8% (2 of 25) of patients. Poor outcome was due to limb length discrepancy, pain in the knee and angular misalignment. Conclusions: We concluded that titanium elastic nailing is an ideal method of femoral shaft fixation in children. Keywords: Femoral shaft fractures, Children, Titanium elastic nailing 1 Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, KIMS, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha, India Received: 02 December 2018 Revised: 17 December 2018 Accepted: 18 December 2018 *Correspondence: Dr. R. G. Asutosh Mohapatra, E-mail: drkitusraban@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/issn.2455-4510.IntJResOrthop20185146