Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 30, 2025
Treatment with Locking Intramedullary Nailing for Intertrochanteric Fracture of the Femur Utilizing a New Awl with a Distal Positioner
Published on: June 6, 2025
Prevalence of Rotational Malalignment After Intramedullary Nailing of Tibial Shaft Fractures: Can We Reliably Use the
Megan E Cain1, Laurent A M Hendrickx1,2, Nils Jan Bleeker1,3
1Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Background:
Intramedullary (IM) nailing is the treatment of choice for most tibial shaft fractures. However, an iatrogenic pitfall may be rotational malalignment. The aims of this retrospective analysis were to determine (1) the prevalence of rotational malalignment using postoperative computed tomography (CT) as the reference standard; (2) the average baseline tibial torsion of uninjured limbs; and (3) based on that normal torsion, whether the contralateral, uninjured limb can be reliably used as the reference standard.
Methods:
The study included 154 patients (71% male and 29% female) with a median age of 37 years. All patients were treated for a unilateral tibial shaft fracture with an IM nail and underwent low-dose bilateral postoperative CT to assess rotational malalignment.
Results:
More than one-third of the patients (n = 55; 36%) had postoperative rotational malalignment of ≥10°. Right-sided tibial shaft fractures were significantly more likely to display external rotational malalignment whereas left-sided fractures were predisposed to internal rotational malalignment. The uninjured right tibiae were an average of 4° more externally rotated than the left (mean rotation and standard deviation, 41.1° ± 8.0° [right] versus 37.0° ± 8.2° [left]; p < 0.01). Applying this 4° correction to our cohort not only reduced the prevalence of rotational malalignment (n = 45; 29%), it also equalized the distribution of internal and external rotational malalignment between the left and right tibiae.
Conclusions:
This study confirms a high prevalence of rotational malalignment following IM nailing of tibial shaft fractures (36%). There was a preexisting 4° left-right difference in tibial torsion, which sheds a different light on previous studies and current clinical practice and could have important implications for the diagnosis and management of tibial rotational malalignment.
Level Of Evidence:
Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
More Related Videos
09:01Treatment of Ankle Osteoarthritis with Total Ankle Replacement Through a Lateral Transfibular Approach
Published on: January 24, 2018
07:41An Intramedullary Locking Nail for Standardized Fixation of Femur Osteotomies to Analyze Normal and Defective Bone Healing in Mice
Published on: November 13, 2016