Date of Award

2027

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Physician Assistant Studies

Committee Chair

Ashley Kernicky

Abstract

Distal tibia fractures are complex fractures due to the intricate anatomy and minimal soft-tissue protection. There are currently two techniques that are mainstays for repairing a distal tibia fracture: intramedullary nailing and plate fixation. This study explores the bone union time between these two different techniques. PubMed was searched with a specific search strategy using the terms “intramedullary rod”, “plate/screw fixation”, “tibial fractures”, and “time to bone union.” Filters were applied to find articles that were most relevant, which resulted in 4 articles, each of which was appraised. Three articles were systematic reviews/meta-analyses comparing intramedullary nail fixation and plate fixation for distal tibia fractures, and one article was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the two. The results for three of the articles showed no statistical significance in the difference between bone union time using intramedullary nailing versus plate fixation. One article showed statistical significance in bone union time favoring intramedullary nailing over plate fixation. Based on the results generated from the articles found, additional randomized controlled trials would be needed to make a conclusion of whether intramedullary nailing or plate fixation is optimal for bone union time in patients.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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