"Clothesline technique" for proximal tibial shaft fracture fixation using conventional intramedullary nail: a simple, useful, and inexpensive technique to prevent fracture malalignment.

Abstract

Treatment of proximal tibial shaft fractures is always challenging. Despite the development of modern techniques, the literature still shows high complication rates, especially regarding proximal fragment malalignment. It is well known that knee position in flexion during tibial nailing is responsible for extension and valgus deformities of the proximal fragment. Unlike in tibial shaft fractures, nails do not reduce proximal tibial fractures due to the medullary canal width. This study aims to describe a simple, useful, and inexpensive technique to prevent valgus and extension deformities when treating proximal tibial fractures using conventional nails: the so-called clothesline technique.