Objective: To evaluate the indications, epidemiology, associated lesions, complications and prognosis among children with unstable femoral diaphysis fractures who were treated with titanium elastic intramedullary nails. Method: This was a retrospective analysis on 24 patients aged 5-12 years with unstable femoral diaphysis fractures who underwent surgical treatment with elastic titanium intramedullary nails at the Cajuru University Hospital, Curitiba-PR, between April 2002 and March 2008, with a minimum follow-up of 36 months. The epidemiological data, angular deviations, leg shortening and bone consolidation were evaluated. Results: The medical files of 113 cases operated between April 2002 and March 2008 were reassessed. From these, 24 cases of unstable femoral diaphysis fractures treated with elastic titanium intramedullary nails with retrograde insertion were included in the study. There were two bilateral fractures and two exposed fractures. Seven patients were female and 17 were male, and the mean age was 8.3 years. The following were presented at the end of the study: shortening, varus or valgus displacement, final retrocurvatum or antecurvatum of zero, and absence of delayed consolidation or pseudarthrosis. Conclusions: The elastic titanium intramedullary nails were easily placed and removed. We believe that using elastic titanium intramedullary nails is a good option for fixation of unstable femoral fractures in children.

ObjectiveTo determine the application of the modified Oxford score among patients with proximal femoral epiphyseal slippage (PFES) as an aid to indicating prophylactic surgical treatment on the contralateral hip.MethodsRetrospective analysis on the medical files of patients attended at the institution where the authors work. From these, patients attended between 2008 and 2011 who presented unilateral PFES and were followed up for a minimum of two years were selected. Patients were excluded if they presented endocrine disease, metabolic disease, Down syndrome or radiographs that were inadequate for determining the modified Oxford score. The initial radiographs received scores ranging from 16 to 26. Statistical analysis was used to determine whether the scoring was predictive of future development of contralateral slippage.ResultsAmong the 15 patients with unilateral PFES that were selected, five (33.3%) evolved with contralateral slippage. The patients were divided into two groups. Four patients were considered to present risk and three of them developed contralateral slippage. In the group that was considered not to present risk, there were 11 patients and two of these evolved with contralateral slippage. Thus, there was a tendency for the patients in the group that developed the disease to differ from the group that did not develop it, in relation to the risk classification.ConclusionAlthough application of the modified Oxford score was not statistically significant in our sample, we noted a tendency toward contralateral slippage among hips with low scores.