Table 2.
Participant and fracture characteristics
| Participant characteristic | No. (%)* n = 50 |
Fracture characteristic | No. (%)* n = 50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yr (mean ± SD) | 48 ± 16 | Fracture type | |
| Sex | Closed | 32 (64) | |
| Male | 36 (72) | Open | 18 (36) |
| Female | 14 (28) | Type of treatment | |
| Ethnicity | Plate fixation | 22 (44) | |
| White | 40 (80) | Reamed intramedullary nail | 16 (32) |
| Native Canadian | 5 (10) | Conservative treatment | 9 (18) |
| Hispanic | 4 (8) | Screws | 2 (4) |
| Southeast Asian | 1 (2) | Nonreamed intramedullary nail | 1 (2) |
| Time from injury, mo., mean ± SD (range) | 34 ± 77 (0.5–555) | Complications | |
| < 6 | 9 (18) | None | 17 (34) |
| 6–12 | 4 (8) | Yes | 33 (66) |
| 12–24 | 19 (38) | Type of complication, n = 42‡ | |
| > 24 | 18 (36) | Nonunion | 13 (31) |
| Mechanism of injury | Delayed union | 13 (31) | |
| Fall | 19 (38) | Infection | 7 (17) |
| Motor vehicle accident | 9 (18) | Wound healing problem | 5 (12) |
| Motorcycle motor vehicle accident | 6 (12) | Hardware failure | 2 (5) |
| Pedestrian motor vehicle accident | 4 (8) | Varus collapse | 1 (2) |
| Recreational vehicle accident | 4 (8) | Posttraumatic arthritis | 1 (2) |
| Crush | 3 (6) | Reoperations | |
| Direct trauma — blunt | 3 (6) | None | 22 (44) |
| Twist | 2 (4) | Yes | 28 (56) |
| Additional injuries | Type of reoperation, n = 47‡ | ||
| None | 27 (54) | Hardware removal | 13 (28) |
| Yes | 23 (46) | Bone graft | 11 (23) |
| Total of 33 additional injuries† | Revision open reduction internal fixation | 8 (17) | |
| Upper extremity injury | 11 (33) | Irrigation and debridement | 6 (13) |
| Other lower extremity injury | 10 (30) | Sequestrectomy | 4 (9) |
| Spinal injury | 5 (15) | Skin graft | 2 (4) |
| Head/facial injury | 5 (15) | Arthrodesis | 2 (4) |
| Thoracic injury | 2 (6) | Osteotomy | 1 (2) |
| Location of fracture | None | 22 (44) | |
| Tibia | 42 (84) | ||
| Femur | 8 (16) |
SD = standard deviation.
*
Unless otherwise indicated.
†
Patients may have had more than 1 additional injury.
‡
Patients may have had multiple complications and reoperations.