Classification and treatment of periprosthetic supracondylar femur fractures

Locked plating and retrograde nailing are two accepted methods for treatment of periprosthetic distal femur fractures. Each has relative benefits and potential pitfalls. Appropriate patient selection and knowledge of the specific femoral component geometry are required to optimally choose between these two methods. Locked plating may be applied to most periprosthetic distal femur fractures. The fracture pattern, simple or comminuted, will dictate the specific plating technique, compression plating or bridge plating. Nailing requires an open intercondylar box and a distal fragment of enough size to allow interlocking. With proper patient selection and proper techniques, good results can be obtained with either method.