Femoral fracture at the proximal end of an intramedullary supracondylar nail: a case report

Abstract

Retrograde intramedullary supracondylar nails have been added to the orthopedic armamentarium for treatment of distal femoral fractures. Major complications of this new technique have not been noted. We report a case of a femoral fracture at the proximal end of a retrograde intramedullary supracondylar nail. We hypothesize that this complication may be due to the proximal end of the nail acting as a stress riser, with the cortical holes drilled for the interlocking screws compounding this effect.