Body system: Musculoskeletal SystemRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.71a
This diagnostic code covers impairment of the femur (your thigh bone) when it doesn't heal properly after a fracture. The VA rates this condition at either 60% or 80% depending on how badly the bone healed. An 80% rating applies when you have a nonunion (the bone never properly healed back together) with loose motion from a spiral or oblique fracture, while a 60% rating is for fractures of the surgical neck that formed a false joint.
Rating levels
- 80% — A fracture in the main shaft or neck area of your thighbone (femur) that has not healed properly and the broken pieces move around loosely when you move your leg. This applies specifically to spiral fractures (where the break twists around the bone) or oblique fractures (where the break goes diagonally across the bone), and the bone ends remain separated and unstable rather than fusing back together.
- 60% — You have a broken thigh bone (femur) where the fracture has not healed properly and the bone pieces have not grown back together (nonunion), but the broken pieces are stable and don't move around loosely. You can still put weight on your leg and walk, but you need to wear a brace or other supportive device to do so safely.
- 60% — You have a broken thighbone (femur) in either the main shaft area or at the neck near the hip joint, and the bone has not healed properly, forming what doctors call a "false joint" (pseudarthrosis - where broken bone ends move against each other instead of fusing together). This creates a unstable, painful connection where the bone should have healed solid, significantly limiting your ability to bear weight and move normally.