[Comparative study of femoral head replacement and internal fixation in the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly]

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of femoral head replacement and internal fixation in the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 70 cases of unstable intertrochanteric fractures treated from January 2016 to January 2019 and meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 39 cases were fixed with closed reduction and new proximal femoral intramedullary nail(InterTAN), and 31 cases were treated with open trochanter reconstruction and artificial femoral head replacement. The operation time, intraoperative bleeding, hospital stay, weight bearing time, postoperative complication rate and hip function recovery (Harris score) were compared between two groups.

Results: All cases were followed up for 12 to 24 months. There were no significant differences in intraoperative bleeding and hospital stay between the two groups (P>0.05). The operation time in replacement group was longer than that in internal fixation group (P< 0.05). The postoperative weight-bearing time in replacement group was significantly earlier than that in internal fixation group (P<0.05). In the replacement group, there were 1 case of pulmonary infection, 1 case of deep venous thrombosis and 1 case of periprosthetic fracture;in the internal fixation group, there were 4 cases of pulmonary infection, 3 cases of internal fixation failure, 3 cases of cerebral infarction and 2 cases of urinary infection;there was significant difference between two groups (P< 0.05). The Harris score in replacement group was higher than that in internal fixation group one month after operation (P< 0.05), but there was no significant difference between two groups at 12 months after operation(P>0.05).

Conclusion: InterTAN and femoral head replacement can treat unstable intertrochanteric fractures in the elderly, but femoral head replacement can move down early, improve the quality of life at the end of life, reduce postoperative complications and facilitate the treatment of coexisting diseases in internal medicine.