femoral neck fracture Flashcards
Epidemiology
- increasingly common due to aging population
- women > men
- whites > blacks
- United states has highest incidence of hip fx rates worldwide
- most expensive fracture to treat on per-person basis
Mechanism
- high energy in young patients
- low energy falls in older patients
Associated injuries
mortality
mortality
- ~25-30% at one year (higher than vertebral compression fractures)
predictors of mortality
Blood supply to femoral head
- major contributor is medial femoral circumflex (lateral epiphyseal artery)
- some contribution to anterior and inferior head from lateral femoral circumflex
- some contribution from inferior gluteal artery
- small and insignificant supply from artery of ligamentum teres
- displacement of femoral neck fracture will disrupt the blood supply and cause an intracapsular hematoma (effect is controversial)
Classification

Imaging
- Radiographs
- CT
- helpful in determining displacement and degree of comminution in some patients
- MRI
- Bone scan
- helpful to rule out occult fracture
- not helpful in reliably assessing viability of femoral head after fracture
- Duplex Scanning
How would you correlate the proximal femur bone qulity with osteoprosis and risk of fracture?
Trabecular types in proximal femur
Five trabecular types can be present in the proximal part of the femur:
- principal compression group
- secondary compression group
- primary tensile group
- secondary tensile group
- Greater trochanteric group

The Five Major Groups of Trabeculae in details?
- Principal Compressive Group
- Extend from medial cortex of femoral neck to superior part of femoral head
- Major weight-bearing trabeculae
- In normal femur are the thickest and most densely packed
- Appear accentuated in osteoporosis
- Last to be obliterated
- Secondary Compressive Group
- Originate at the cortex, near the lesser trochanter
- Curve upward and laterally toward the greater trochanter and upper femoral neck
- Characteristically thin and widely separated
- Principal Tensile Group
- Originate from the lateral cortex, inferior to the greater trochanter
- Extend in an arch-like configuration medially, terminating in the inferior portion of the femoral head
- Secondary Tensile Group
- Arise from the lateral cortex below the principal tensile group
- Extend superiorly and medially to terminate after crossing the middle of the femoral neck
- Greater Trochanter Group
- Composed of slender and poorly defined tensile trabeculae
- Arise laterally below the greater trochanter
- Extend upward to terminate near the greater trochanter’s superior surface

Singh index—radiologic grades.
Singh has shown that trabecular loss occurs in a predictable sequence that can be used to grade the severity of osteopenia. He recognized that the compressive trabeculae were more essential than the tensile trabeculae and that the peripherally located trabeculae were more vital than central ones.

Displaced intracapsular neck of femur fractures:
dislocation rate after total hip arthroplasty
Nonoperative
observation alone
- indications
- may be considered in some patients who are non-ambulators, have minimal pain, and who are at high risk for surgical intervention
Operative
- ORIF
- cannulated screw fixation
- sliding hip screw
- hemiarthroplasty
- total hip arthoplasty
what is the indications for ORIF
indications
- displaced fractures in young or physiologically young patients
- ORIF indicated for most pts <65 years of age
cannulated screw fixation indecations
- nondisplaced transcervical fx
- Garden I or II in the physiologically ACTIVE elderly and no osteoarthretic changes
- displaced transcervical fx in young patient
- considered a surgical emergency
- achieve reduction to limit vascular insult
- reduction must be anatomic, so open if necessary
sliding hip screw indecations
- basicervical fracture
- vertical fracture pattern in a young patient
- biomechanically superior to cannulated screws (may not be clinically superior)
- consider placement of additional cannulated screw above sliding hip screw to prevent rotation
hemiarthroplasty ind
- controversial
- debilitated elderly patients
- metabolic bone disease
total hip arthoplasty indications
- controversial
- older active patients
- patients with preexisting hip osteoarthritis
- more predictable pain relief and better functional outcome than hemiarthroplasty
- Garden III or IV in patient < 85 years
General Surgical Consideration
- time to surgery
- treatment approach based
- fixation with implants that allow sliding
- open versus closed reduction
time to surgery
treatment approach based on
fixation with implants that allow sliding
- permit dynamic compression at fx site during axial loading
- can cause shortening of femoral neck
- prominent implants
- affects biomechanics of hip joint
- lower physical function on SF-36
- decreased quality of life
- anatomic reduction with intraop compression and placement of length stable devices decrease shortening