Injury of the knee ligaments associated with ipsilateral femoral shaft fractures

OBJECTIVE: With the objective of identifying the incidence of ipsilateral knee ligament injury, thirty-six patients with femoral shaft fractures were evaluated. METHODS: During the osteosynthesis procedure to repair the femur while under anesthesia, all patients underwent a physical examination and X-ray examination. RESULTS: The most common mechanism of injury observed was motorcycle accidents. Of the thirty-six patients that were studied, eleven patients (30.5%) had a knee ligament injury. Of the eleven patients, 64% had a cruciate ligament injury. The ligament injury was not treated at the time of the osteosynthesis procedure. CONCLUSION: We highlight the difficulty of diagnosis at the time of admission and the need for systematic physical examination before and after surgical treatment of femoral fracture