A prospective study on functional and radiological outcome of distal femur fracture treated with distal femur locking compression plate (DF-LCP) in adults

Introduction: Distal femur fractures are one of the most fractures encountered by orthopaedic surgeons in routine practice. These fractures pose therapeutic challenges of fracture treatment because they are usually compound, comminuted, readily deformed because of muscle forces acting on the distal fragment, prone to result in functional impairment of the knee joint because of the injury to quadriceps system. There is no single implant that can be used for all distal femoral fractures. The introduction of DF-LCP is a welcome change that has brought a drastic change in management of these fractures due to its contouring to the distal femur with combiholes in proximal pattern.Aim: Evaluation of the functional and radiological outcome of Distal femoral fractures treated with DF-LCP.Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out at orthopaedics department of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Southern Rajasthan from January 2019 to June 2020. A total 30 patients of AO Type A and Type C distal femur fractures were included in the study. The method used for fixation was closed or open reduction and internal fixation with DF- LCP. All the patients were followed up for a period at the end of 6 months and functional outcome was assessed according to Knee Society Scoring System.Results: Fracture union was seen in all patients. On evaluation according to Knee’s criteria mean score were 73.76. Out of 30 patients excellent in 19 patients (63.33%), good in 09(26.67%), fair in 02(6.67%) and poor in 01(3.33%).Conclusion: DF-LCP is effective and reliable implant in treating distal femoral fractures AO type A and type C with minimal complications. However careful understanding of basic principles and identification of appropriate fracture pattern are essential to produce excellent result.