Tibial shaft fractures are the most common long bone fracture and are often open because the medial tibia is subcutaneous. Intramedullary nailing is the standard treatment for displaced fractures, and compartment syndrome must be watched for after both injury and surgery.

Epidemiology

1/2000 per annum
Commonest long bone fracture
Fractures of the proximal third make up 5-10% of fractures in most series

Classification

Most surgeons use descriptive classifications
Can use AO classification
degree of soft tissue injury can be classified by the system of Tscherne & Gotz (1984)

Type	Description
0	~Minimal soft tissue damage resulting from an indirect mechanism of injury that has caused a simple bone fracture
1	~Superficial abrasion or soft tissue contusion ~caused by pressure from the bone injury with a mild to moderately severe fracture pattern
2	~Deep contaminated abrasion ~associated with localised skin & muscle contusion, an impending compartment syndrome & a high energy fracture pattern
3	~Extensive skin contusion or crushing ~underlying severe muscle damage, a compartment syndrome & a severe fracture pattern

Tscherne & Gotz (1984) Classification of Soft Tissue Damage

Compartment Syndrome

rate of compartment syndrome varies from 1-9%
rate of compartment syndrome is no higher when reaming is used compared with no reaming
compartment pressure is most elevated by the use of continual traction rather than intramedullary reaming

Indications for Nonoperative or Operative Treatment

Distal Tibial & Fibular Shaft Fracture

Published alignment parameters are guidelines at best, with no substantiated scientific data to support them
Some accepted guidelines are:
- Varus/valgus angulation of 5-7°
- AP angulation of 10°
- Shortening of 1cm
- Rotational alignment within 10°
There is no consensus on the best management of a closed midshaft stable tibia fracture amongst trauma experts
In a meta-analysis by Littenberg et al (JBJSA 1998) the only strong conclusions that could be reached were that closed treatment has a lower risk of infection & open treatment has a higher rate of union
presence of an intact fibula leads to more rapid union but is associated with an ↑ risk of angulatory deformity

Displaced Tibial Fractures

1991 RCT by Hooper reported that treatment of displaced tibial fractures by IMN resulted in a better outcome than closed treatment
- with more rapid union
- less malunion
- earlier return to work.
Advantages & disadvantages of closed vs. open treatment

Closed Treatment

Negligible risk of infection
Few problems with knee pain
No need for hardware removal

Intramedullary Nailing

Better control of alignment
Can start early ROM of knee & ankle
Improved mobility
Less frequent followup
Earlier return to work

Present Indications for Nonoperative Management of Tibial Fractures

Minimal soft tissue injuries (types 0 & 1 by Tscherne & Gotz)
Stable fracture pattern:
- less than° coronal angulation
- less than 10° sagittal angulation
- less than 1cm of shortening
Ability to bear weight in a cast or functional brace

Indications for Nailing

High energy fracture
Types 2 & 3 soft tissue injuries
Unstable fracture pattern by above definitions
An open fracture
Compartment syndrome
Ipsilateral femoral fracture
Inability to maintain reduction
Intact fibula (relative indication)

Points on Nailing

Reaming is preferred to non-reaming.
- A larger, stiffer nail can be used which leads to less hardware breakage
- less risk of non union & repeat operations
Proximal tibial fractures have a much higher rate of complications than midshaft fractures
- rate of nonunion is up to 84% compared with 34% in midshaft fractures
- Malunion occurs as a result of malreduction
  - fracture tends to collapse into valgus
    - due to loss of more lateral cortex than medial cortex
    - attachment of the anterior tibial muscles on the lateral cortex acting as a tether
    - fracture tends to posteriorly translate (particularly if the fracture is proximal to the bend in the nail) & flex
- To avoid malreduction the entry point should be anterior & laterally
  - Tornetta found the ideal entry point is 3mm lateral to the midpoint of the tibial tubercle
- Blocking (Poller) screws & unicortical plating are techniques that can be used to ↓ the risk of malunion
  - Poller screws are placed posteriorly & laterally
Flexion deformity was minimised by Tornetta by using a small medial arthrotomy with a semi-extended position
Distal tibial fractures
- have less of a tendency to malunion than proximal fractures but are still more problematic than proximal fractures
Technical points here
- percutaneous clamps can be used to maintain a reduction
- Plating the fibula may ↓ the rate of malunion
- A Steinmann pin placed horizontal to the joint line acts as a visual aid to reduction & can be used as a joy stick

Nailing & Open Fractures

Reaming has traditionally been thought to be contraindicated in open tibial fractures because of damage to the endosteal blood supply
Two recent RCT have shown no ↑ in the rate of infection with reaming

Complications of Nailing

Knee pain
- occurs in around 50%
- Not influenced by patellar splitting or medial parapatellar approach
- Abolished by nail removal in 50% & ↓ in 25%
- Nailing leads to ↑ patellofemoral contact forces
Nonunion
- Bone grafting is safe after 3 months in grade 3A or 3B fractures if there is no evidence of infection
- Fibular nonunion may also occur & be a source of pain. This needs to be treated with bone grafting & compression plating
Malunion – 12-34%
Delayed union
- Consider prophylactic bone grafting at 6 weeks if using small diameter unreamed nail
- Rule out infection at the time of Reoperation
Hardware failure
- This is reduced if a large reamed nail is used
- Two distal locking screws should be used – one study reported a rate of screw failure of 59% with a single screw vs. 5% with two screws

Plating

Spiral Distal Tibial & midshaft Fibular Shaft Fracture treated with Medial Locking Plate

Plating is used mainly for metaphyseal injuries. It should not be used when there is soft tissue compromise
plate can be placed laterally (fewer soft tissue problems & biomechanically more advantageous because acts as a tension band) or medially (preferred if subcutaneous placement)

External Fixation

External fixation may be definitive or provisional
Provisional external fixation is the treatment of choice in injuries where there is dubious viability of the limb
Definitive external fixation is reserved for patients with:
- very narrow intramedullary canals (less than 6mm)
- children
- patients with complex periarticular fractures
All studies comparing Ex-fix & nonreamed nails in managing open fractures have found better results for nailing.
- rates of deformity were lower
- faster return to weight bearing
- improved limb function
- use of IMN simplified soft tissue cover & bone grafting operations
Typically the frame is placed anteromedially
- with four pins
  - two close to the fracture but not within the fracture haematoma
  - other pins as far distal as possible
- connecting rods are initially placed as close to the skin as possible
  - but some dynamization can be achieved by moving the rods further away from the skin
Complication
- pin loosening & subsequent pin tract infection
- If the Ex-fix is to be replaced by an IMN
  - pin tracts should be healed, as numerous authors have documented an ↑ rate of infection if nailing is performed after more than 2 weeks of Ex-fix
- Predrilling of all pin sites should be performed, as this may ↓ the rate of thermal necrosis

Results

Procedure	Time to Union (weeks)	Non / delayed / Union	Malunion	Superficial Infection	Deep Infection	Reoperation
Closed Treatment		17.2% 13.1% delay 4.1% non	31.7%	0%	1/145	12/145
ORIF	14.9 weeks	2.6% 0.86% delay 1.7% non	0	9.0%	1/233	11/233
Unreamed Nail	19.5	16.7% 9.4% delay 7.4% non	11.8%	0.5%	3/203	31/203
Reamed Nail	20.2	8.0%	3.2%	2.9%	3/314	19/314

Results of Management of Tibial Shaft Fractures

Reviewed by Professor Phong Tran, Head of Orthopaedic Surgery, Western Health. Last updated 10 October 2026.