Intramedullary Nailing with Blocking Screws in the Treatment of Fractures of Proximal and Distal Ends of Tibia - A Prospective Observational Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Kannur, Kerala

BACKGROUND Fractures of both proximal and distal metaphyses with small distal fragment of tibia are not uncommon. Internal fixation using intramedullary nails alone could lead to misalignment. Using blocking screws (Poller screws) in addition to intramedullary nails would help in narrowing the medullary cavity and decreases the degree of misalignment and chances of displacement. The present study was conducted to evaluate functional and radiological outcome of blocking screws with intramedullary nail in the treatment of proximal and distal metaphyses fractures of tibia with short distal fragment. METHODS A prospective observational study of 34 patients with proximal and distal tibial metaphyses fractures was treated with statically locked intramedullary nailing with supplementary blocking screws. The study was conducted from January 2018 to December 2020 with a maximum follow up of 18 months. Medullary canal diameter was measured at the levels of fracture and isthmus. RESULTS Among the 34 patients, 29 (85.29 %) were males and 05 (14.70 %) were females with a male to female ratio of 5.8 : 1. The mean age was 34.97 ± 3.10 years. The mean healing period was 20 ± 1.45 weeks. 25/34 (73.52 %) of the patients showed Karlstrom and Olerud functional grading score of excellent. The fracture varus/valgus alignment was 1.9 ± 0.3 degrees. The mean antecurvatum/recurvatum alignment was 0.3 degrees. CONCLUSIONS Blocking screws act as reduction tools, help in reducing the medullary lumen of distal metaphyses and prevent failures in initial reduction. They extend the indication of intramedullary nailing to the distal segment of tibia and minimize the misalignment in terms of varus /valgus and/or antecurvatum/recurvatum. KEYWORDS Tibia, Intramedullary, Blocking Screws, Internal Fixation and Misalignment