Clinical and radiological outcomes of patients treated with the talon distalfix proximal femoral nail for intertrochanteric femur fractures

Background: The Talon™ DistalFix™ Proximal Femoral Nail (Talon-PFN) is a new proximal femoral intramedullary nail designed for the treatment of intertrochanteric femoral fractures. This study aimed to report the clinical and radiological outcomes of patients treated using a proximal femoral intramedullary nail with a novel design. Methods: Patients with either stable or unstable (AO/OTA type 31-A1, 2, 3) intertrochanteric fractures who were treated with the Talon-PFN between October 2014 and January 2018 in our department participated in this retrospective study. Patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, and functional and radiographical outcomes were evaluated. Results: A total of 110 patients (65 females, 45 males) with a mean age of 80.6 ± 9.1 years participated in this study. The mean follow-up time was 24 ± 13.4 months. The overall mortality rate during follow-up was 50.48%. The most common perioperative complications were a malposition of the femoral neck screw and talon cutout, both of which occurred in 17 patients (15.5%). The most common complications observed during follow-up were a lesser trochanter nonunion/malunion in 34 patients (30.9%), valgus malunion in 18 patients 16.4%), lateral screw migration in four patients (3.6%), and varus malunion in 15 patients (13.7%). A late screw cutout through the femoral head was seen in four patients (3.6%). At least one complication was detected in 53 patients (48.2%). However, revision surgery was performed in only six of these cases (5.5%). Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this study, the Talon-PFN, which has similar clinical and radiological outcomes compared to other proximal femoral intramedullary nail designs according to the reported studies, can be a suitable alternative in the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd