[Intramedullary nailing with reaming. A critical analysis of Kuntscher's principle (author's transl)].

The authors have reviewed two of Kuntscher's principles relating to intramedullary nailing: the moment of elasticity of the nail should be close to the moment of elasticity of the bone and the suppression of rotation movements at the fracture site is due to locking of the nail by virtue of its elasticity. They have conducted an experimental study which does not confirm these views. They considered that rotary stability is due to muscle tone, the line of the fracture and the anchorage of the ends of the nail at the upper and lower end of the bone.