Abstract: Introduction: Distal femur fracture are being treated with distal femur nail, dynamic condylar screw and even addition of a medial plate with good clinical results. By this study, we explore the potenti ability of a distal femur locking plate to counter distal femur fractures of extra articular, partial or intra- articular nature. Positive results have been brought out by various groups from all over the world.
Aim: To study the clinical, functional and radiological outcome of distal femoral fractures managed by open reduction and internal fixation with distal femur locking plate in skeletally mature patients.
Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study conducted from January 2018 to January 2021 at the Government Medical College Khandwa with a 6month follow-up in skeletally mature patients with post-traumatic distal femur fractures were included. Follow and evaluation was done according to the Neer scoring system. The statistical data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20 (IBM, Chicago, USA). The p-value <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Following all principles of fracture reduction, union was achieved in all patients with mean time to radiological union being 19 weeks. The mean Range of Motion (ROM) was 109 degrees with 20 patients having a Neer score graded as excellent to satisfactory. Three patients developed complications in the form of infection (two cases) and mal-union (one case) during the course of our study, but were completely treated by the end of the study.
Conclusion: Positive results can be obtained by distal femur locking plate alone as it is the main implant of choice for distal femur fractures of all varieties. Best outcome is expected if fracture fixation is done following all the basic principles of fracture fixation and taking benefit of the mechanical properties of a locking plate.
