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Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of Pauwels' classification of femoral neck fractures., Method: A study of literature was performed., Results: It has never been proven that the inclination of the fracture plane has a prognostic relevance. A number of papers prove the contrary, there are no publications where Pauwels' classification has been used successfully in selecting treatment modalities. Pauwels' theory of fracture inclination angle has not been transferred into clinical practice. This discrepancy probably goes back to the fact that the angle cannot be determined preoperatively, that in the majority of femoral neck fractures the angle is within the range of 40 to 60 degrees, that the theoretical angle variations do practically not exist, and that the shearing forces are reduced to an unknown amount by friction resistance due to the uneven fracture plane. The mechanical laws of the pseudarthrosis of the femoral neck cannot be extrapolated to acute fractures., Conclusion: The theory of Pauwels has apparently no clinical relevance for the majority of acute fractures, except for the rare transcervical fractures, and should not be considered any longer as a classification of acute femoral neck fractures due to the lack of prognostic and therapeutic relevance.

Due to the high incidence (600-900 patients/year >65 years old), the expected increase in frequency by a factor of five by 2050, and the proportionately shrinking capacity in trauma centers, femoral neck fractures are relevant to health care both economically and politically. Surgical treatment within 6 h improves results of osteosynthesis, within 24 h reduces general complications, and within 48 h reduces mortality. The literature displays great regional differences in methods and results. There is however general agreement that the hip joint should be preserved in young, active patients, regardless of fracture type and dislocation and that endoprosthesis is desirable for elderly patients with severe dislocation. The controversies begin with compressed fracture, determination of the degree of dislocation, and age and physical condition of patients who would profit from endoprosthesis. Total endoprostheses show better results in more active patients than do hemiarthroconstructions. Cemented endoprostheses are preferable in older patients due to their better function and lower postoperative pain. The DGU recommends prophylactic osteosynthesis for impacted fracture and osteosynthesis for nondislocated fracture or when closely following slightly dislocated fracture.

Background: Whereas the Scottish guidelines are audited annually, nobody evaluates guideline compliance in Germany. Thus, can external quality assurance data pursuant to section 137 of the German Social Code Book V be suitable for auditing guideline compliance?, Materials and Methods: From North Rhine Westphalia, a total of 48,831 cases of femoral fractures near the hip joint were evaluated. Compliance with the guidelines was determined based on preoperative hospital stay, thrombosis, and antibiotic prophylaxis. Guideline rationale was reviewed in terms of mortality and thromboembolism rate., Results: Sixty-four percent of the interventions were performed in a timely manner. Thrombosis prophylaxis was given in 99% of cases. Antibiotics were given as a single shot. There was no connection between mortality and thromboembolism rates or time to surgery., Conclusion: Guideline compliance is similar in German and Scotland. The external quality assurance data are suitable for evaluating guideline compliance. The literature recommends a short time to surgery. Given the short observation period, it was not possible to demonstrate any improvement in outcomes.

Introduction: Treatment recommendations vary for Garden I fractures of the proximal femur. The aim of our retrospective study was to determine the results of functional treatment of these injuries., Material and Methods: A total of 54 consecutive patients were enrolled, and their data (age, comorbidities, treatment, complications, etc.) were ascertained and stored in a database. Initial treatment consisted in early mobilization and weight bearing in all patients., Results: In 24 cases (44%) no complications at all were observed in the course of conservative treatment. In 28 cases (52%) surgical treatment was necessary due to early fracture dislocation. Analysis of the X-ray images showed that in 9 of these 28 cases the functional treatment had not been clearly indicated, i.e., incomplete impaction of the fragments. When these patients are excluded the success rate of conservative treatment was 53%, as two additional late complications occurred and were treated surgically (1x AVN, 1x nonunion). With reference to the survival rate, score, and patient satisfaction, there was no difference between conservative and operative treatment (p=0.478). The risk of a secondary dislocation increases with the number of risk factors (p=0.008)., Discussion: An attempt at functional treatment with close X-ray monitoring is appropriate in these fractures, since this makes it possible to avoid surgery in about half of the patients while achieving functional results comparable to those yielded by surgery.

Beside of modern surgical and implant techniques and basic pathophysiological knowledge, internal fixation of subcapsular fractures of the neck of the femur is still known to be connected with a high rate of complications. Implant failure, the typical early complication arising within the first 3 months, non-union, avascular necrosis of the femoral head and late segmental collapse are the typical complications. The type of fracture, timing of operation (emergency operation), quality of reduction and implant positioning have all been shown to predict outcome significantly. However, it is also suggested that further therapeutical interventions like intra-articular pressure decrease by evacuation of hematoma, the kind and technique of reduction, special surgical techniques and postoperative treatment can influence outcome, as well as patient-associated factors like age, degree of osteoporosis, neurological disease, and alcoholism. The superiority of one of the 100 different existing implants have not been proved either by clinical or by biomechanical trials. However, besides screw osteosynthesis, the sliding screw plate and less often sliding nail plate implants are commonly used. Because of the very different biomechanical principles it is of great importance to adhere to the special operative techniques to avoid intraoperative complications that might cause treatment failure. To reduce the frequency of these almost always fatal and in special circumstances lethal complications, we need some more detailed information from good clinical trials and sufficient external quality assurance.

During the last few decades, traumatic injuries of the hip joint have significantly increased in number, and traffic accidents have also increased. Depending on the speed, direction of the forces and the position of the femur at the moment of impact, different patterns of injury occur. Basically, they are classified as hip dislocations, dislocation fractures and acetabular fractures. These injuries have in common a high rate of concomitant lesions. Several classification systems have been developed for these injuries. Commonly, Stewart and Milford's or Levin's classification is used for dislocations and dislocation fractures. For acetabular fractures, Judet and Letournel's classification and its newer version developed by Helfet (AO classification) are generally accepted. Fractures of the femoral head, though included in these classifications, are typically described by separate classifications like the one presented in 1957 by Pipkin. The multitude of injuries occurring in the hip joint requires vast knowledge of various operative approaches. No single approach exists that would permit the treatment of all injuries in an ideal fashion. Approaches are either considered limited (Kocher-Langenbeck, ilioinguinal iliofemoral) when they permit access only to a restricted segment of the joint, or extended (extended iliofemoral, Maryland, Ruedi) when they allow all-round visualization of the hip joint. The choice of the best approach for an individual patient depends on the type of injury and also on patient variables like age, preexisting disease, and concomitant injuries. The decision is further influenced by the timing of surgery, the kind of fracture stabilization intended and by complications typically seen with certain approaches. The indication for extended procedures is only seen in patients with complex injury patterns involving both the anterior and the posterior column or in delayed cases undergoing surgery more than 3 weeks after trauma. Extended approaches permit excellent visualization of the fracture, but the extent of the soft tissue trauma is reflected in a high rate of postoperative complications. After a phase in which extended procedures were favored, recently a trend towards more limited approaches can be recognized because of their lower complication rate. This is facilitated by modern fracture-reduction methods using indirect techniques.

Over a long period of time the dislocated and unstable fracture of the femoral neck has been called "the unsolved fracture". Regardless of all technical improvement developed the head- and joint preserving treatment of this fracture seemed to remain an "unsolvable" problem. Fundamental reason for this discrediting judgement was the continuously high rate of complications like segmental collapse of the femoral head and pseudarthrosis of the femoral neck. The invention and speedy acceptance of hip joint replacement made many surgeons hope that the "unsolved" problems of treating femoral neck fractures could be guided to a definite conclusion. This revising discussion is done to bring home being familiar with the experience gained by practising the head- and joint preserving surgery of femoral fractures.

Fracture of the femoral neck is a common problem in elderly patients. In these patients with concomitant illness and medical complications the hip fracture is then often the reason for a long-term institutionalization with serious implications for the outcome. While the treatment of displaced femoral neck fractures Garden's stage III and IV is quite clear, the procedure for impacted or undisplaced fractures Garden's stage I or II is still the subject of controversy. In a retrospective study was shown that conservative treatment of impacted or undisplaced femoral neck fractures is associated with a high complication rate of 30-40%. When these femoral neck fractures were broken down according to Garden's classification the complication rate in cases of Garden's stage II was found to be 1.5 times that in femoral neck fractures in Garden's stage I. With a P-value less than 0.05 this difference was statistically significant (Wilcoxon test). Because of these major problems associated with conservative treatment we changed our current algorithm. Covered internal fixation with cancellous screws is now considered to be indicated for all impacted or undisplaced femoral neck fractures. Between 1990 und 1992, 53 patients (42 female, 11 male) with femoral neck fracture in Garden's stage I (24 patients) or II (29 patients) were treated in our Department of Traumatology with 6.5 mm cancellous screws. In all case early mobilization and weight-bearing were allowed. In this prospective study the average follow-up was 14.3 +/- 2.1 months (range 8-20 months).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Intracapsular femoral neck fractures of patients younger than 65 should be treated by open or closed reduction and internal fixation with two to four lag screws. Garden I fractures should also be treated by percutaneous screw fixation to prevent a delayed dislocation. If the fracture is dislocated (Garden II-IV) immediate reduction and internal fixation is mandatory to improve the blood flow by "unkinking" of the supporting vessels. The rate of femoral head necrosis is about ten to fifty percent, according to the grade of posttraumatic dislocation. Early stages of total or partial femoral head necrosis can be successfully treated by vascularized cortical bone grafts. In our institute a graft vascularized by the quadratus femoris muscle is preferred. Valgisation osteotomy, alloarthroplasties and arthrodeses in very young people are performed in cases of irreversible total femoral head necrosis.

Femoral neck fractures in children are rare injuries (less than 1 percent). The fracture pattern consists of transepiphyseal, transcervical, cervicotrochanteric and intertrochanteric fractures. Main problems with this type of injury are avascular necrosis, varus deformity, nonunion and premature epiphyseal closure. Varus and nonunion are affected by the treatment, vascular compromise with necrosis or growth problems are not related to therapy and hardly to control. Primary dislocated fractures are emergencies and need immediate operative management. Stabilization is achieved with K-wires or cancellous screws dependent on the child's age. In children below 3 years a pelvis cast is necessary post-operatively. Partial weight bearing is started 6 weeks post trauma and is rapidly increased to full weight bearing. One year post-operation the metal is removed, K-wires directly after bony healing.

Recent investigations and new devices allow specific regimens in the management of dislocated femoral neck fractures. Very old, immobile patients with a bad prognosis should be treated with a femoral head prosthesis. Patients with either arthritis, osteopenia, dysplasia or rheumatoid arthritis should receive a total hip prosthesis. The remaining population (age > 65 years) with dislocated femoral neck fractures and intact acetabulum should be managed with a bipolar hemialloarthroplasty. The protrusion rate is not significant.

Based on the AO Classification of Fractures, the classification of fractures of the proximal femur will be explained. Especially the sub- and pertrochanteric fractures, as well as the fractures of the femoral neck will be considered. During the period from 1980-1989 26,126 fractures of the proximal femur were documented in the AO/ASIF Documentation Center. These fractures will be discussed regarding following aspects: dispersion of age and fractures, pre-existing systemic illnesses, general and local postoperative complications, choice of implant.

Since 1983 we have treated 19 cases of medial neck of femur fracture by using the dynamic hip screw. A follow-up of these patients has shown bad result in 12 cases. We have abandoned the indications for implantation of DHS.

The results obtained in 167 extracapsular fractures of the hip are presented. Ender's pins were used in 82 cases and the dynamic hip screw (DHS) in 85. Comparison of different aspects (handling, postoperative mobility, complication rate, mortality) shows that the second operating procedure named DHS is highly suitable for the treatment of fractures A1-A3 and B2 (Müller classification) and superior to the procedure with Ender's pins.

The authors report on the results obtained with surgical treatment of 470 femoral neck fractures, which they analyzed with reference to the type of break. The found that a fracture line with a zig-zag course signified the best prognosis for both healing and stability, whereas fractures with a posterior fragment had a poorer prognosis. The results support the urgency of the operation and confirm the higher proportion of cases treated for jagged fractures among those with good results.

This is a report about 50 fractures of the femoral neck, treated in a ward for general surgery. Impacted valgus fractures generally do not need surgery. Osteosynthesis only with Böhler nail have no good results. Hemiprosthesis of femoral head on elderly patients is a good method and generally not followed by protrusio acetabuli.