Abstract:
Objective: Femoral nail length can be estimated preoperatively by several methods,
but this usually requires an intact contralateral femur. The aim of this study was to
determine an alternative method using fibula and femoral head as references.
Materials and methods: Digital radiographic views of the lower limbs of 102 healthy
volunteers were used to compare femoral medullary length with the sum of fibular
length and transverse head diameter.
Results: Femoral medullary length and the estimated length were highly correlated
(r = 0.942, p < 0.0001). Paired samples t-testing has produced a high significance
( p < 0.002).
Conclusion: The formula provides a simple and accurate estimation of femoral
medullary length, and may be used in nailing, particularly of bilateral comminuted
femoral fractures.
# 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
