The importance of reaming the posterior femoral cortex before inserting lengthening nails and calculation of the amount of reaming

摘要

BackgroundLengthening nails have been used to correct limb length discrepancy caused by different etiologies, as well as for post-traumatic reasons. Two important lengthening nail-related complications are damage to the distraction mechanism and femoral fractures around the nail tip. As a result of the curved anatomy of the femur, straight nails impinge on the anterior cortex. Therefore, proper reshaping of the medullary canal to accommodate straight lengthening nails is crucial for the prevention of this problem. Reaming the dense posterior cortex is important when aiming to insert a lengthening nail without incurring anterior cortex nail tip impingement-related complications. Posterior femoral cortex over-reaming is a solution to this situation.