The Marchetti-Vincenzi universal bundle nail for the treatment of tibial nonunion

The authors report the results obtained in the treatment of 9 cases of uninfected hypertrophic or atrophic nonunion of the tibial diaphysis, using the Marchetti-Vicenzi Universal Bundle Nai. Lesions consisted in the sequelae of different types of diaphyseal fractures treated by means of several surgical procedures. Former fixation material was removed in all of the cases, the tibial medullary canal was reamed, and the Marchetti-Vicenzi Universal Bundle Nail was used for internal fixation. In some cases, additional procedures were used such as Osteomuscular Decortication (DOM) according to Judet, autologous bone grafting. All of the cases healed after a mean time of 22 weeks. The authors suggest that intramedullary nailing using the universal bundle nail is a reliable and safe procedure for the treatment of uninfected tibial nonunion.