A few days from now will mark the 16th anniversary of my first time skiing. It also marks the 16th anniversary of me breaking my right femur. In honor of that glorious month of 7th grade I missed, I decided to see if the surgery I had to repair the bone is still being performed.
The answer: yes. Pretty much nothing has changed if you break your femur in the same manner: Intramedullary Fixation for non-comminuted mid shaft fractures. It’s a pretty straightforward procedure: knock me out, cut hip open, drill a hole into the head of the femur, ream out the center marrow-y part, drive in 13.4 inches titanium nail, insert two proximal screws at the top end to hold the rod in place (keep it from moving up and down in the bone), put the end cap in place, and stitch and staple shut.
Read the brochure, and note the odd choice of text/graphics ala Ralph Steadman.
Being a thirteen year old, and having expectation to continue to grow for 5 more years, I had the femoral nail removed after a year. I have it next to me as I type this.