Abstract
BACKGROUND: To compare 30-day outcomes in patients treated for a distal femur (DF) fracture with plate fixation (PF) or intramedullary nail (IMN). METHODS: Differences in rates of any adverse events (AAE), serious adverse events (SAE), infectious complications, and mortality were explored between groups in the ACS-NSQIP database. RESULTS: There were 511 PF and 44 IMN patients. The PF group and IMN groups had similar rates of AAEs (p = 0.35), SAEs (p = 0.46), infectious complications (p = 1.00), and mortality (p = 0.39). CONCLUSIONS: DF fractures treated with IMN have equivalent short-term outcomes compared to those treated with PF.