Distal Femur Fracture

The current standard of care for most intra-articular distal femur fractures (above the knee joint) in geriatric patients is a surgical fixation using plates and screws to hold the fracture pieces in the correct position, until the fracture as healed. However, surgical fixation of these complex fractures in geriatric patients, is associated with significant complications, such as non-union (when the broken bone does not heal properly), infection and the need for revision surgery. Additionally, surgical fixation requires prolonged immobilization of of the affected limb (typically around 6-12 weeks post-operatively), which can lead to disability and other complications. Geriatric patients, especially those frail and with cognition impairment, are unable to adhere to the immobilization restrictions, which leads to an increased risk of fixation failure (broken bone does not heal). Another treatment option for those patients is an acute distal femoral replacement (artificial knee), where damaged parts of the knee joint are replaced with artificial prosthesis. This procedure allows patients to walk immediately after the surgery and faster return to previous level of function, therefore avoiding the complications for immobilization. There is a lack of guideline and evidence to suggest which surgical technique is best to provide superior function outcomes, lower complications and reduced costs. The proposed study seeks to answer this question by performing a large clinical trial comparing knee replacement versus surgical fixation in geriatric patients with distal femur fracture.

The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to decrease non-union rates in distal femur fracture fixation. Carbo-fix lateral femur plate and standard intramedullary nail-plate constructs have been shown to have lower non-union rates. With decreased non-union rates, re-operation rates will decrease, leading to improved patient outcomes and clinical care. This study will randomize patients to one of the two groups. Then investigators will be collecting data on the standard plate and nail combination and compare outcomes with the Carbofix plate to see differences in union rates. All procedures are currently standard of care and no procedures are research only.

Periprosthetic distal femur fractures are a significant source of morbidity and mortality for elderly patients. One treatment option involved a surgical fixation with plates or nails, screws and cables/wires along the side of your fractured bone. The second method consists in replacing your knee joint with an artificial knee prosthesis (artificial knee joint). The primary objective is to determine if acute distal femur replacement improves knee pain and functional outcomes compared to surgical fixation. Secondary outcomes are mortality, reoperation, complications, post-operative pain and quality of life. A health economic analysis will be conducted to assess the cost-effectiveness of both treatments. A total of 148 patients (74/group) will be enrolled in the study.

Supracondylar femur periprosthetic fractures about a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are a catastrophic and challenging complication of TKA and unfortunately are increasing in incidence. Fixation of these fractures can be challenging due to altered anatomy for the TKA and the presence of the metallic femoral component and have a relatively high complication rate. As a result, some surgeons elect to treat these fractures with a distal femur replacement total knee arthroplasty (DFR). The purpose of this study is to prospectively evaluate periprosthetic femur fractures treated with ORIF or DFR and compare various outcomes measures (Get up and go times, KOOS Jr score)

Assessment of the effect of double plating and single lateral plating on early weight bearing as a primary outcome and improving union and decreasing complications as secondary outcomes.

Analgesic drug study that will compare pain outcomes of opioid analgesia and opioid-free analgesia in post-operative orthopedic patients.