A femur fracture is a complete or incomplete break in the thigh bone (femur), the large bone extending from the hip to the knee. This is a serious injury but uncommon in sports.
What Is a Distal Femur Fracture?
A femur fracture is a complete or incomplete break in the thigh bone (femur), the large bone extending from the hip to the knee.
Causes and Risk Factors
Femur fractures can result from:
- An injury causing a force greater than the bone can withstand, usually due to a direct blow
- Indirect stress caused by twisting or violent muscle contraction
Risk factors include:
- Contact sports, including football, soccer, and hockey
- Motor sports
- Track and field events
- Bony abnormalities, including osteoporosis, and tumors of bone
- Metabolic disorders, hormone problems, and nutritional deficiencies and disorders
- Poor physical conditioning, including strength and flexibility
Symptoms
Common signs and symptoms of a femur fracture include:
- Severe pain in the thigh at the time of injury
- Tenderness and swelling in the thigh
- Bleeding and bruising in the thigh
- Inability to bear weight on the injured leg
- Visible deformity if the fracture is complete and the bone fragments separate enough to distort the normal contours of the leg
- Numbness and coldness in the leg and foot beyond the fracture site if the blood supply is impaired
Treatment
Initial treatment consists of medications and ice to relieve pain and reduce swelling.
Treatment often requires surgery to hold the fracture in place. This usually requires placing a rod down the center of the bone. Alternatively, a plate or screws may be recommended to fix the fracture.
Casting is usually not recommended because the cast would need to involve the abdomen, lower back, and pelvis and extend to the foot. Traction is also not usually recommended in adults because it requires prolonged constant bed rest and traction for six to eight weeks.
Uncommonly, bone stimulators that provide electrical currents to the bone may be attempted. Rarely, an external fixator, which uses screws in the bone with a connecting frame outside the skin, is used to hold the fracture.
After the bone heals, with or without surgery, stretching and strengthening of the injured and weakened joint and surrounding muscles are necessary. This may be done with or without the assistance of a physical therapist or athletic trainer.
The rod, plate, or screws do not need to be removed.
Recovery and Outcomes
With appropriate treatment, this condition is usually curable, although the fracture may take six to eight weeks to heal.
Potential complications include:
- Shock due to blood loss within the thigh
- Failure to heal (nonunion)
- Healing in a poor position (malunion)
- Compartment syndrome due to excessive pressure within the leg causing injury to the blood supply, nerves, and muscles of the leg and foot; this is uncommon
- Shortening of the injured bones
- Arrest of normal bone growth in children
- Risks of surgery, including infection, bleeding, injury to nerves resulting in numbness, weakness, or paralysis, and the need for further surgery
- Infection in open fractures when the skin is broken over the fracture site
- Myositis ossificans (bone forming within the muscle)
- Prolonged healing time if activity is resumed too quickly
- Proneness to repeated leg injury
- A stiff hip or knee
When to See Dr. Chudik
If you are concerned about a possible femur fracture, schedule an evaluation with Dr. Chudik.
Call 630-324-0402, request an appointment online, or email contactus@chudikmd.com.ability to bear weight, visible deformity, or any neurovascular symptoms. Call 630-324-0402 or request an appointment online.