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Exchange Femoral Nailing: A New Technique for Removal of a Broken Nail
Am J Orthop. 2007 September;36(9):500-502
Author and Disclosure Information
Rodney K. Alan, MD, Rafath Baig, MD, and Frank R. Voss, MD
Dr. Alan is in private practice, Palmetto Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Sumter, South Carolina. He was Senior Resident, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, at the time that the article was written.
Dr. Baig is Resident, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York.
Dr. Voss is Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
Exchange femoral nailing is the preferred method for treating femoral nonunions. When the index femoral nail is broken, the difficulty of exchange nailing increases dramatically. In this article, we describe a new technique for removing a broken retrograde nail—advancing it out of the proximal end of the femur.