Abstract:Objective To investigate the clinical application effect of tibial intramedullary nail and distal tibial locking compression plate in the treatment of the distal third lower tibial fractures. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 96 patients with the distal third lower tibial fractures in the hospital. The patients were divided into intramedullary nail group (46 cases) and plate group (50 cases) according to the surgical method. Patients in the intramedullary nail group were treated by internal fixation with intramedullary nail while those in the plate group were treated by internal fixation with distal tibial locking compression plate. The intraoperative condition, length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, fracture healing time and the prognosis were observed. Results The surgical time of the intramedullary nail group was longer than that of the plate group (P＜0.05), and the intraoperative blood loss was more than that of the plate group (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the length of hospital stay, detumescence time or postoperative ambulation time between these two groups (P>0.05). The fracture healing time of the intramedullary nail group was longer than that of the plate group (P＜0.05). The excellent and good rate of prognosis in the intramedullary nail group was lower than that of the plate group (76.08% vs 92.00%) (P＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between these two groups (P＞0.05). Conclusion Distal tibial locking compression plate for the treatment of the lower third of the distal third lower tibial fracture is beneficial to fracture healing, with good effect.