We reviewed 12 patients with chronic drainage after intramedullary nailing of a femoral shaft fracture. The fractures tended to be the result of high-speed trauma and were frequently comminuted. Six were open fractures and six were closed injuries. All but one had been managed initially with the open nailing technique, exposing the fracture site. In six cases we left the nail in place until bone union occurred, an average of 33 months after injury, removing the hardware thereafter. The remaining six patients, each with bone sequestra at the fracture site, underwent nail removal, debridement of nonviable bone, and external fixation followed by bone grafting; this group took 37 months to heal. There was one persistent nonunion in each group. Drainage did not cease in either group until the nail and all sequestra had been removed. There was an average of 4.3 cm of shortening, but no angulation greater than 10 degrees. Six patients were left with less than 45 degrees of knee flexion and only five had 100 degrees or more of knee flexion.