Treatment of recalcitrant, multiply operated tibial nonunions with the RIA graft and rh-BMP2 using intramedullary nails

Nonunions of the tibia continue to present some of the most difficult challenges in orthopaedic fracture care. Whether the consequence of the initial presenting injury, co-morbidity or subsequent attempts at fixation, the biological environment is often compromised. Compounding this problem is a lack of consensus on the best approach to addressing nonunited tibia fractures, placing them at risk for multiple, and sometimes ill-informed attempts at nonunion repair. We present nine cases of recalcitrant tibial nonunions which had previously undergone 4 or more attempts at repair treated with a protocol using RIA graft, rh-BMP2 and intramedullary nail fixation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.