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An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?

Includes bibliographical references.

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Main Author: McCollum, Graham
Other Authors: Kruger, Nicholas
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author McCollum, Graham
author2 Kruger, Nicholas
author_browse Kruger, Nicholas
McCollum, Graham
author_facet Kruger, Nicholas
McCollum, Graham
author_sort McCollum, Graham
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12605
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:08.355Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
publisherStr Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/12605 An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure? McCollum, Graham Kruger, Nicholas Orthopaedic Surgery Includes bibliographical references. First introduced by Kuntshner, femoral nailing has become the 'Gold Standard' of treatment for femur fractures. The efficacy and benefit of early osteosynthesis by this technique is well established. Some of the acute complications of intramedullary manipulation and nailing are fat embolism syndrome, pulmonary dysfunction and Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). One of the causes of fat embolism is a raised intramedullary pressure. Investigators have shown the direct correlation of intramedullary pressure with fat intravesation and embolism in both animal and human studies. Fat embolism syndrome is unpredictable and the true incidence is unknown. Mortality from fat embolism syndrome ranges from 10-35%. The incidence is increased with associated pulmonary trauma and in the multiply injured patient. The aim of our study was to investigate the intramedullary pressure rise during reamed prograde femoral nailing and determine whether fracture level and complexity affect the peak pressures. The relevance is that certain fracture types or levels that result in the highest pressures can be identified before the operation. Measures could be taken to reduce the intramedullary pressure during the procedure, particularly in those patients at greatest risk of pulmonary complications from fat embolism. We hypothesised that more proximal, simple fractures generate higher pressures during nailing because there is a long 'closed tube' distal to the fracture. Pressure proximal to the fracture does not reach the same high levels because the intra-medullary content is able to decompress through the fracture as the reamer moves distally. With proximal fractures there is a greater volume of medullary content distal to the fracture which can enter the venous system and embolize. Fracture comminution and complexity should lead to lower intramedullary pressures because there is a greater length of the femur through which the intramedullary content can decompress. The study sought to answer the question of whether fracture level makes a difference with respect to the intramedullary pressure rise during reamed prograde nailing. The results of this study have not been submitted for publication at the time of submission of these results for the thesis. 2015-03-13T14:10:59Z 2015-03-13T14:10:59Z 2010 Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12605 eng application/pdf Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Orthopaedic Surgery
McCollum, Graham
An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?
thesis_degree_str Master's
title An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?
title_full An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?
title_fullStr An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?
title_full_unstemmed An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?
title_short An investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing: does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure?
title_sort investigation into the intramedullary pressure rise during femoral nailing does the level and type of fracture determine peak pressures during the procedure
topic Orthopaedic Surgery
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12605
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