[Operative and conservative treatment of fractures of the femur (author's transl)]

Abstract

82 cases with fractures of the thigh bone were seen at the Surgical Department of the Charité Hospital in Berlin. 5 selected cases were chosen to demonstrate problems of treating these fractures in a different way. Surgical and conservative treatment are no longer adverse. Whereas in compound fractures surgery is the exception, it is the method of choice in fractures of the shaft by intramedullary nailing. Plate-osteosynthesis is only performed in cases which cannot be stabilized by intramedullary nailing. Additional injuries, such as those of skull and brain especially, will complicate surgery in a way, which until now has not been completely elucidated.