There are few reports on function after limb salvage surgery using the Ilizarov technique, and none that document the pattern of recovery or predict when maximum function returns. This prospective, longitudinal study documents the baseline functional abilities of 40 consecutive patients with nonunion of a fracture in the lower limb. Patients were studied for at least two and a half years following the completion of surgery. Function was measured by timed tests of functional performance and by the Toronto Extremity Salvage Score self-reported patient questionnaire. Recovery was slowest in the early stages after removal of the frame and greatest between six months and one year. Statistically significant improvement continued up to, but not beyond two years. This observation has important implications for the length of follow-up incorporated into the rehabilitation programmes for patients, predictions of patient status in regard to compensation and for the design of future studies to evaluate functional outcome

National Hunt jockeys suffer a disproportionate number of clavicular fractures and their return to riding may be considerably delayed by refracture and symptomatic nonunion, with obvious implications. We report six such cases in which excision of the clavicular fragment distal to the fracture was associated with an early return to work and no recurrent injury to the shoulder

We treated 19 patients with established nonunion of the radius and/or ulna by the excision of avascular bone and the grafting of blocks of corticocancellous bone from the iliac crest, augmented by rigid plate fixation under compression. This allowed early mobilisation, and bony union was achieved between three and 24 months after operation in all but one of the patients. The single failure was attributed to the excessive length of the defect (100 mm) and inadequate fixation

Exchange nailing for failure of union after primary intramedullary nailing of the tibia is widely used but the indications and effectiveness have not been reported in detail. We have reviewed 33 cases of uninfected nonunion of the tibia treated by exchange nailing. This technique was successful without open bone grafting in all closed fractures and in open fractures of Gustilo types I, II and IIIa. The requirement for open bone grafting was reduced in type-IIIb fractures, but exchange nailing failed in type-IIIb fractures with significant bone loss. For these we recommend early open bone grafting. The most common complication was wound infection, seen more often than after primary nailing. We discuss our protocol for the use and timing of exchange nailing of all grades and types of tibial fracture

We have treated 42 consecutive complex ununited fractures of the femoral shaft by wave-plate osteosynthesis at five different medical centres. There were 13 with previous infection, 12 with segmental cortical defects, and 3 were pathological fractures. In 39 cases there had been previous internal fixation and 21 patients had had more than one earlier operation. Union was achieved in 41 patients at an average of six months, although three had required a second bone graft. Two patients had recurrence of infection and in one this resulted in the persistence of nonunion. There were no failures of the implant. All 41 patients with union are now fully weight-bearing, but four have a leg-length discrepancy, one has axial malalignment, and nine have residual stiffness of the knee. These results are surprisingly good, despite the complexity of the initial problem, and appear to confirm the biological and mechanical advantages of the wave plate over the conventional plate for such cases

Nonunion of fractures of the olecranon fossa of the humerus presents a difficult surgical problem. The distal fragment is usually small and osteoporotic and stable fixation is not easy to achieve. We describe a modification of the technique of locked nailing by which the distal aspect of the nail is placed in the subchondral region of the trochlea. Good results were obtained in seven out of eight patients with this technique

We reviewed 26 consecutive men of mean age 28 years who had had wedge bone grafting and Herbert screw fixation for symptomatic established nonunion of the waist of the scaphoid. The period between injury and operation averaged 30 months (10 to 96), and 11 of the 26 patients had had previous operations, seven with bone grafts. At a mean follow-up of 14 months (6 to 42) 25 fractures (95%) had united at a median time of four months. Symptoms were improved in all patients. The outcome was not related to the time between injury and surgery or to pre-existing degenerative changes. Previous surgery carried a worse prognosis. The technique is difficult but can achieve union even when previous surgery and bone grafting have failed. The usual result is improved function and some relief of pain

In children, nonunion of fractures of the waist of the scaphoid is uncommon. Treatment has included bone grafting without internal fixation, bone grafting with Kirschner-wire fixation, and screw fixation without bone grafting. We report the successful use of Herbert screw fixation and iliac-crest bone grafting in five cases, all of which healed without further surgery. At an average follow-up of 3.3 years, the range of motion, grip strength, carpal stability, and radiological appearances were all excellent

In two years we treated four women with ununited stress fractures of their proximal tibial diaphyses. They all had arthritis and valgus deformity. The stress fractures had been treated elsewhere by non-operative means in three patients and by open reduction and internal fixation in one, but had failed to unite. After treatment with a modular total knee prosthesis with a long tibial stem extension, all the fractures united.

A modular total knee prosthesis is suitable for the rare and difficult problem of ununited tibial stress fractures in patients with deformed arthritic knees since it corrects the deformity and the adverse biomechanics at the fracture site, stabilises the fracture and treats the arthritis.