hi baker,

well, reports state that each year in the United States, approximately 60,000 patients sustain midshaft femoral fractures, majority in young adults following motor vehicle accidents, falls from a height, or industrial accidents.

correction of the fracture with an intramedullary nail inserted into the femur is the standard of care for surgical fixation. fracture healing from this procedure is effective, with union rates of between 95% and 99%.

regarding functional limitations, impairments, and or disability may be attributable to soft tissue injury as a result of trauma at the time of injury or surgery, or both. common soft tissue limitations include hip abductor weakness with a resultant trendelenburg gait pattern, quadriceps femoris muscle weakness, anterior knee pain, trochanteric bursitis, and decreased function with respect to gait and walking endurance.

well as far as you are concerned I understand you have been following up with outpatient therapy 3x a week, home exercise program twice a day along with exercise biking for a fairly good period of time hence your postoperative complications should be very minimal or none at all.

according to MT Archdeacon, MD, assistant professor, department of orthopaedic surgery, university of Cincinnati college of medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, the ability to return to work following intramedullary nailing of femoral fractures documented a mean return-to-work date of 6 months after surgery, with a range of 3 to 18 months depending on the extend of comminution.

well, I also wish to add that the goal of rehabilitation is to return you to your sport or activity as soon as is safely possible. everyone recovers from an injury at a different rate or pace. return to your activity is determined by how soon your femoral fracture recovers, not by how many days or weeks it has been since your injury occurred. hence keep your fingers crossed and let nature do the trick.

I am sure you will get back to shape sooner than you expect. all the best.

cheers,

thomas