Response to Letter to the Editor: Comparing Intramedullary Nailing Versus Locked Plating in the Treatment of Native Distal Femur Fractures: Is One Superior to the Other?

We would like to thank the editors for the opportunity to respond to their letter regarding our study, Comparing Intramedullary Nailing Versus Locked Plating in the Treatment of Native Distal Femur Fractures: Is One Superior to the Other? published in the Indian Journal of Orthopaedics. The authors greatly appreciate the insight and thoughtful feedback regarding the findings of our study, which may be skewed by heterogenous data and/or technical aspects of surgical plating and intramedullary nailing. We agree with the editors and believe that higher level randomized trials along with specific studies focused on studying modes and causes for treatment failure are necessary to further elucidate the heterogenous data. Nonetheless, with an overall union rate of about 90% and without significant differences in outcomes, at this juncture, we conclude that either intramedullary nailing or locked plate fixation is acceptable treatment options for distal femur fractures.

Automated summary

The study acknowledges the potential biases from heterogenous data and surgical techniques, suggesting the need for higher level randomized trials to further clarify the results. Overall, intramedullary nailing and locked plate fixation are both considered acceptable treatment options for distal femur fractures with similar outcomes.