ArticleInternational orthopaedics2022
Population characteristics, outcomes, and centerwide insights of the Zimbabwe national experience with the SIGN intramedullary nail (2013-2020).
Article in International orthopaedics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Primary reamed intramedullary nailing of tibial shaft fractures in a low-resource setting: a prospective comparative study of multifragmentary (AO/OTA 42 C) versus simple and wedge (AO/OTA 42 A/B) fractures.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2026Article
- Prevalence of infection and associated factors after intramedullary nailing in African countries with the Surgical Implant Generation Network program: A systematic review and meta-analysis of available evidence.SAGE open medicine · 2025Review
- Standard or Fin SIGN® nail? which option is better for the treatment of femoral fractures in low and middle-income countries?International orthopaedics · 2024Article
- [Nail osteosynthesis of long bones without image intensifier : SIGN Fracture Care makes it possible in hospitals of the "global south"].Unfallchirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
purposeSIGN Fracture international is a non-profit organization that provides intramedullary nails to SIGN centres at no cost for intra-operative fracture fixation in exchange for cases being uploaded to the SIGN Online Surgical Database (SOSD). The SIGN program was introduced in Zimbabwe in 2013 and had expanded to nine hospitals at the end of 2020. This study aimed to evaluate the population characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients who received the SIGN nail in Zimbabwe as well as intranational trends across SIGN centres.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective review of the SOSD for all cases carried out in Zimbabwe between 2013 and 2020.
resultsA total of 1764 patients received operative fixation over the period. The majority were young (36.83 ± 15.13) years and male (74%). The average time to surgery was 22 ± 20.5 days with over 69% of patients getting surgery after more than ten days. Femur fracture fixation (72%) was the most common procedure with road traffic accidents (RTAs) being the most common cause of fractures (73%). The majority of patients had no follow-up (61%). Of patients with follow-up, 4% reported infection, 2% deformity, and 78% with healing X-rays. There were large differences in volume of patients at different centres with no significant trends in outcomes.
conclusionThe SIGN program allows for safe surgery in Zimbabwe. There are large intranational differences of no particular trend across SIGN centres which may be improved through more intranational knowledge sharing. Improved follow-up would allow for more insights to be gleaned from the database.
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