The Zickel intramedullary appliance was used without methylmethacrylate
in forty-six patients to stabilize thirty-five fractures and eleven
impending fractures associated with osseous lesions in the subtrochanteric
region of the femur. Early mobilization or ambulation was possible in
nearly all cases. The patients with actual fractures survived an average of
4.7 months, while those with lesions stabilized prophylactically survived
an average of 13.8 months postoperatively. Fourteen of the thirty-five
patients with fractures showed union after an average of 4.5 months.