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Intracapsular fractures linked to longer femoral necks
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NICE — Orthopedic researchers reported that a patient’s hip fracture pattern may be closely linked to the geometry of his or her proximal femur.
Researchers at Monklands General Hospital in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, Australia, conducted a retrospective comparison of the length and width of the femoral necks in 200 patients who sustained a hip fracture.
The investigators studied 100 Australian patients and 100 Scottish patients and included 50 intracapsular and 50 intertrochanteric fractures in each group. All measurements were made using standardized digital anteroposterior radiographs, according to Andrew Bowey, FRCS, who presented the results at the 9th European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress, here.
“We attempted to correlate the length and width of the femoral neck with the fracture type,” he said.
The populations were matched for age and sex, although the majority of fractures were sustained by women, he said.
The results for both populations suggest that a patient sustaining an intracapsular fracture is more likely to have a longer femoral neck (mean 40.56 mm among the Scottish patients and 39 mm among the Australian patients) than a patient sustaining an intertrochanteric fracture (mean 31.70 mm among the Scottish patients and 29 mm among the Australian patients), Bowey said.
“The femoral neck was narrower in the intracapsular group among the Scottish patients, but not in the Australian patients,” he said. “We also found that men had longer, wider femoral necks compared to the female patients.”
The relationship between hip fracture pattern and proximal femoral geometry “is statistically significant in both population groups,” Bowey said.
“Anthropologically, as the human race evolves and people get taller, their femoral neck lengths are increasing. This could translate into a change in the number and type of hip fractures. Intracapsular fractures may predominate, and this could have implications on both treatment outcomes and resources for hip fracture patients,” the researchers said in the abstract.
For more information:
- Bowey A, Gregory J, Duthie R. Proximal femoral geometry and hip fracture patterns: a multicentre comparative radiological study from Southern Australia and Western Scotland. Paper F218. Presented at the 9th European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology Congress. May 29-June 1, 2008. Nice.