[Retrograde bone transport nail in a posttraumatic femoral bone defect]

We report the case of a 28-year-old man who developed nonunion with complex deformity after treatment of a distal femoral fracture with an antegrade femoral nail. The resulting deformity was as follows: 10° varus, 21° external torsion, 1.8 cm of foreshortening and translation malalignment. After resection of the pseudarthrosis, a retrograde segmental transport nail was implanted. During the same surgical procedure, acute internal torsion, valgization and lengthening correction was performed. The segment transport was performed using a magnetically driven internal transport nail. Seven months after surgery, bony consolidation of the distraction section and the docking site was observed. The leg axis was straight and the rotational movement ranges of the knee and hip corresponded the dimensions of the contralateral side.