Intramedullary fixation of pathological fractures and lesions of the subtrochanteric region of the femur.

The Zickel intramedullary appliance was used without methylmethacrylate in forty-six patients to stabilize thirty-five fractures and eleven impending fractures associated with osseous lesions in the subtrochanteric region of the femur. Early mobilization or ambulation was possible in nearly all cases. The patients with actual fractures survived an average of 4.7 months, while those with lesions stabilized prophylactically survived an average of 13.8 months postoperatively. Fourteen of the thirty-five patients with fractures showed union after an average of 4.5 months.