Further Evaluation of the Use of Intramedullary Nailing in the Treatment of Gunshot Fractures of the Extremities

¹ Orthopaedic Service, Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, D. C.

1. Seventy gunshot fractures of the extremities were treated by intramedullary nailing. In sixty-two (88.6 per cent) of these fractures, the functional result was satisfactory.

2. Twenty-eight of the fractures were nailed prior to wound healing. In twenty-five of these fractures the results were satisfactory. In the group of fractures treated by immediate or slightly delayed wound closure, fourteen (87.5 per cent) of the results were satisfactory; and its the group of fractures in which the wounds were left wide open following nailinig, eleven (91.7 per cent) of the results were satisfactory.

3. In the group in which nailing was done subsequent to complete wound healing, thirty-seven (88.1 per cent) of the end results were satisfactory.

4. No fracture should be treated by intramedullary nailing unless the optimum operating conditions are present.

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