Surgical treatment of femoral fractures in children. Comparison between external fixation and elastic intramedullary nails: a review.

Femoral fractures represent about 2% of all fractures in childhood. Children with femoral fractures always need to be admitted to hospital and the use of resources is much higher than for other childhood fractures. During the past decade, there has been a trend towards surgical treatment of these fractures, one advantage being the shorter time required in hospital. Two common surgical treatment options are external fixation (EF) and elastic stable intramedullary nails (ESIN). Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, and neither of them solves all of the problems. Used in a complementary manner, they are safe and reliable for the treatment of femoral fractures in children, and they give good long-term results and few serious complications.