New method to remove tibial intramedullary nail through original suprapatellar incision: A case report

Since 2006, introducing a tibial intramedullary nail via the suprapatellar approach has been established; however, nail removal must be carried out using classic infrapatellar access, which can lead to complications. Here, we report a new method to remove the intramedullary nail through the original suprapatellar incision.

A 39-year-old man was hit by a vehicle in 2019. He was immobilized with a 10-mm × 330-mm tibial intramedullary nail via the suprapatellar approach due to left middle tibial fracture. Two years later, the patient requested for the implant to be removed. We used a new method to remove the tibial intramedullary nail through the original suprapatellar incision, and the operation went smoothly.

This case report indicates that suprapatellar access can be used to remove the intramedullary nail via the original incision without infrapatellar access, thus avoiding surgical complications.