Rollick NC, Gadinsky NE, Klinger CE, et al. - This study explored the impact of of single vs dual plating on distal femoral vascularity. Researchers arbitrarily allocated a total of eight cadaveric lower limb pairs to either isolated lateral plating, or lateral and medial plating of the distal femur, with four specimens per group. Contralateral limbs served as matched controls. They conducted pre- and post-contrast MRI to assess signal intensity enhancement in the distal femur. Further assessment of intraosseous vascularity was performed with barium sulphate infusion with CT scan imaging. It was noted that lateral locking-plate application resulted in mean 21.2% reduction in distal femur vascularity. Addition of medial plates did not further remarkably reduce vascularity. The study found that the majority of the vascular insult occurred with lateral plating alone. The data indicates that supplemental medially based fixation did not lead to marked devascularization of the distal femur, and should thus be recognized in the setting of comminution and poor bone stock in distal femoral fractures. Future research is needed to verify the results of this study.