A Study of Management of Pathological Fractures of Appendicular Skeleton

Fourty cases of pathological fractures of appendicular skeleton were studied. In 75 % of cases studied fractures occurred secondary to minor trauma or developed spontaneously. A pathological fracture of appendicular skeleton due to metastases1 was the commonest cause. Management of patients with pathological fractures due to secondaries is mainly palliative2. Treatment should aim at keeping them pain free and ambulatory. When surgical intervention is necessary in pathological fractures due to secondaries in appendicular skeleton, intramedullary nailing2 is preferable since it not only stabilizes the fracture fragments but also prophylactically stabilizes the whole length of the bone. In all the cases studied, fractures were closed because of the low energy injury mechanism associated with most of the cases.