Stress fractures in the gapped area of a two implant construct: a case report

The concomitant occurrence of femoral shaft and hip fractures are not rare. The ideal management of ipsilateral intertrochanteric and femoral shaft fractures is still controversial and needs to be addressed. Cephalomedullary nail fixations of both the fractures have been described with excellent results. Similar results have been published with two implant constructs treating both of these injuries separately. We report the case of a stress fracture, in the gapped area above the proximal interlocking screw of a retrograde femoral nail placed for a segmental femur fracture and a trochanteric fracture treated with a sliding hip plate screw construct, 9 months after initial injury. The gapped area of a two implant construct is of concern and biomechanical studies have shown that the proximal end of the nail and the interlocking screws may act as a stress riser in the femur. A stress fracture in the gapped area of a two implant construct has not been described earlier, although a cadaveric study had shown that the area of the proximal screw hole of the retrograde nail is a common site for a fracture, on loading. Kissing or overlapping instrumentation increases the load to failure and creates a biomechanically stable construct.