Addition of a Medial Locking Plate to an In Situ Lateral Locking Plate Results in Healing of Distal Femoral Nonunions.

Background: Nonunion of the distal femur after lateral plating is associated with axial malalignment, chronic pain, loss of ambulatory function, and decreased knee ROM. The addition of a medial locking plate with autogenous bone grafting can provide greater stability to allow bone healing and may be used to achieve union in these challenging cases.

Questions/purposes: We wished to determine (1) the proportion of patients who achieve radiographic signs of osseous union for distal femoral nonunions with an in situ lateral plate after treatment with addition of a medial locking plate and autogenous bone grafting, and (2) the frequency and types of complications associated with this treatment.

The devastating effects of tibial nonunion on health-related quality of life.

Background: Tibial nonunion is disabling, but to our knowledge no quantitative evaluation of its effect on health-related quality of life has been reported.

Methods: We evaluated 243 tibial shaft fracture nonunions in 237 consecutive patients (seventy-nine female [age, 49.4 ± 14.