Intramedullary Nailing of Femoral Shaft Fractures: Implications of Interlocking Screw Breakage
Eric T Metzman, Josue Balbuena, Taylor T Utter, Rodolfo Zamora · 2026
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Description
A rod down the thigh bone is the standard fix for a broken femur, and the screws locking it sometimes snap. Eric Metzman, Josue Balbuena, Taylor Utter, and Rodolfo Zamora asked whether a snapped screw dooms the healing, in a 2026 study. They reviewed 551 nailed femur fractures at a level-one trauma center, each followed at least a year.
Screws broke in 31 patients, about one in eighteen. Comparing the 24 with full follow-up against 161 without breakage, the groups matched in age, weight, smoking, and diabetes. Delayed healing at one year appeared in two-thirds of the breakage group, a rate the authors set against the unbroken group to judge the danger. Their message is practical: a broken screw is a warning sign worth watching, since the fracture behind it may be slow to knit.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Eric T Metzman, Josue Balbuena, Taylor T Utter, Rodolfo Zamora |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 18 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |