Cancellous Bone Autograft, Bone Substitute, Local Antibiotic, and Fresh Blood for Ununited Fixed Femoral and Tibial Fractures

Fractures of long bones as femur and tibia are the third most common ones in orthopedics daily practice, these fractures are usually treated with intramedullary nails.

Union is defined as the appearance bridging callus more than two cortices at the fracture site in the expected time frame for each fracture type which is about 25 weeks for long bones. Nonunion is a problem that has an impact on both patients and society as it may lead to depression, longer time-off work, poor functional outcomes, and cost burdens of secondary interventions to manage.

Different strategies can be used for treatment of such cases. All measures used should follow the diamond concept which summarizes the core factors that need to be present to achieve bone healing. In particular, these factors relate to the optimization of the mechanical stability and biological environment (sufficient osteogenic and angiogenic cells, osteoconductive scaffolds and growth factors).

Inclusion criteria

• Age from 18 to 70 years old.
• Both sexes.
• Patients with complete radiographic and clinical follow-up records for at least 12 months post-revision.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with pathological fractures, infection, or comorbidities that interfere with healing.