Surgical Treatment of Internal Fixation Failure of Femoral Peritrochanteric Fracture

Abstract

Objective To investigate the factors, surgical treatment methods and clinical effect of internal fixation failure of intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures. Methods From June 2015 to May 2019, arthroplasty and internal fixation revision were used to treat 18 cases of internal fixation failure of intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures. There were 10 males and eight females, with an average age of 67.3 years (38–92 years). The 16 cases of initial intertrochanteric fractures were classified according to AO/OTA:13 cases of A2 and 3 cases of A3, the other 2 cases were subtrochanteric fractures (Seinsheimer type IV). The internal fixation failure was treated with total hip arthroplasty (6 cases), bipolar hemiarthroplasty (4 cases), revision with proximal femoral lockingplate (4 cases) and extend intramedullary nail (4 cases). Results All patients were followed up for an average of 24.7 months (range, 12 to 36 months). The average operative time was 111.4 min (range, 72 to 146 min) and the average intraoperative blood loss was 403.6 mL (range, 200 to 650 mL). The average time of fracture union was 6.9 months (range, 5 to 9 months) for cases of internal fixation revision. The operative time of the arthroplasty group was shorter than the revision group (P < 0.001), and the intraoperative blood loss of the arthroplasty group was less than the revision group (P = 0.001). The affected limb shortening of postoperative (0.21 ± 0.19 cm) was better than preoperative (2.01 ± 0.60 cm) (P < 0.001), while the limb shortening of the arthroplasty group (0.11 ± 0.21 cm) was less than the revision group (0.33 ± 0.09 cm) (P = 0.015). At the last follow‐up, all injured limbs regained walking function, and the Harris hip score was 81.3 ± 9.4 points. The Harris score of postoperative was better than preoperative (33.4 ± 5.9 points) (P < 0.001), while there were no significant differences between the arthroplasty group and the revision group at 3 months (76.5 ± 8.5 vs 71.1 ± 10.6, P = 0.249), 6 months (80.9 ± 7.9 vs 78.9 ± 12.9,P = 0.687) postoperative and the last follow‐up (80.5 ± 8.3 vs 82.3 ± 11.7, P = 0.716) respectively. Conclusion For internal fixation failure of peritrochanteric fractures, young patients could accept internal fixation revision to restore normal anatomical structure, correct varus deformity and autograft; while elderly patients and patients with damaged femoral head could be treated with arthroplasty to restore walking function.

Functional Outcome of Treatment after Failed Intertrochanteric Fracture Fixation

“…On reviewing the literature, we found various reasons for failed IT fracture fixation, like implant loosening, screw cut-off, screw penetration into the joint, varus reduction, and unstable fracture pattern. Zhong et al, 18 in their study, concluded that failure of IT fracture fixation following intramedullary nailing was due to unstable fracture pattern, unsatisfied reduction, improper implant position, poor quality of bone, and inappropriate choice of implant.…”

Comparative Study on the Treatment Efficacy of Direct Anterior Approach and Direct Lateral Approach for Irreducible Intertrochanteric Fractures in the Elderly

“…Fracture reduction can be completed under direct vision, thereby ensuring the effects of reduction and fixation, and creating favorable conditions for early postoperative rehabilitation training. At the same time, the DAA to the hip joint is relatively safe without damaging the blood vessels and nerve tissue in the area surrounding the fracture, which can significantly reduce the incidence of postoperative complications [11] .…”

Kalça kırıklarının cerrahi tedavisinde kullanılan proksimal femoral çivilerinin distal kilitlenme tipinin radyolojik sonuçlarına etkisi

“…They treated 8 of them with revision internal fixation, 4 of them with partial arthroplasty and 6 of them with total arthroplasty. According to their results, they recommend revision of the internal fixation for youngers and arthroplasty surgery for elderly patients to treat a failed internal fixation treatment 25 . D'Arrigo et al treated 21 patients (mean age: 75.8) with failure of trochanteric fracture fixation with partial (n:2) or total hip arthroplasty (n:19).…”