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Nonunion of fractures of the femoral neck in children

  • Original Clinical Article
  • Published:
Journal of Children's Orthopaedics

Abstract

The authors present the prospective clinical outcome of nine pseudoarthroses resulting from surgical treatment carried out in nine children, whose ages varied from 6 years and 2 months to 14 years and 2 months (mean 10 years and 2 months), who had fractures of the femoral neck. Five were classified as type II, according to the Delbet classification modified by Colonna, and four were type III. The initial fractures were caused by high-energy traumas, such as trampling, bicycle falls, and car accidents. Treatment of choice was valgus osteotomy of the femoral neck associated or not with insertion of bony graft. The mean time of follow-up was 38 months, ranging from 23 to 71 months, and the mean time of pseudoarthrosis consolidation after osteotomy was 76.6 days, varying from 45 to 240 days. In this study, all the pseudoarthroses consolidated. For final analysis of clinical and radiographic results, the Ratliff’s classification was used. We obtained three cases as good results, five as fair and one as poor. The authors concluded that valgus osteotomy is a good option for treatment of pseudoarthrosis in the femoral neck fractures in children.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Sheila Ribeiro de Campos Solla for helping to correct the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil

    Pedro F. Tucci Neto, Fernando Baldy dos Reis, José Laredo Filho, Helio J. A. Fernandes & Carlo Milani

  2. Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo Andre, Brazil

    Edison Noboru Fujiki

  3. Robert Debré Children Hospital, Paris, France

    Henri Bensahel

  4. Rua Américo Brasiliense, 596, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, 09715-021, Brazil

    Carlo Milani

Authors
  1. Pedro F. Tucci Neto
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  2. Fernando Baldy dos Reis
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  3. José Laredo Filho
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  4. Helio J. A. Fernandes
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  5. Edison Noboru Fujiki
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  6. Henri Bensahel
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  7. Carlo Milani
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Correspondence to Carlo Milani.

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Neto, P.F.T., dos Reis, F.B., Filho, J.L. et al. Nonunion of fractures of the femoral neck in children. J Child Orthop 2, 97–103 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11832-008-0078-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11832-008-0078-0

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