Drill-guided femoral nail extraction: a novel technique

Femoral nail extraction, although it is considered a challenging procedure for orthopedic surgeons, can be simplified. We present a new technique to aid the removal of a proximally (antegrade) inserted femoral nail by applying drilling consecutively in order to identify the margins and depth of the nail into the intramedyllary canal of the femur. The damage to the bone is minimal as we use k-wires or drilling and in our practice was uneventful. This technique is the first to be reported in literature. Most authors suggest techniques that enable radiolucent table and fluoroscopy techniques using C-arm. With this technique, traction table and fluoroscopy techniques seem to be less essential to accomplish the removal of a proximally (antegrade) inserted femoral nail.