Timing of artificial femoral head replacement in the treatment of femoral intertrochanteric fracture with intramedullary nail failure in elderly patients

Abstract

To analyze the timing of artificial femoral head replacement in elderly patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture after intramedullary nail failure. From July 2013 to September 2019, 17 elderly patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture after intramedullary nail fixation failure were treated with artificial femoral head replacement. According to the interval from diagnosis of internal fixation failure to pedestrian femoral head replacement, the patients were divided into early operation and delayed operation groups. Among them, there were 8 cases of early operation, 5 males and 3 females;the age ranged from 80 to 89 years old with an average of (84.88±2.79) years old;the interval was 1 to 7 days with an average of(4.13±1.73) d. There were 9 cases of delayed operation, 4 males and 5 females;the age ranged from 80 to 89 year old with an average of(84.22±3.03) years old;The interval was 15 to 30 with days an average of (25.56±4.36) d. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, the first postoperative weight-bearing time, postoperative hospital stay, the number of complications and deaths were compared between two groups. Harris score was used to evaluate hip function at 1 and 12 months after operation. The incision healed well after operation. There was 1 case of urinary tract infection in the early operation group;in the delayed operation group, there were 2 cases of intermuscular venous thrombosis, 1 case of pulmonary infection, 3 cases of urinary tract infection and 1 case of prosthesis dislocation. All 17 patients were followed up for 12 to 16 months with an average of (14.76±1.86) months. There was no significant difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss and the number of deaths between two groups(P>0.05). There were significant differences in the first weight-bearing time, postoperative hospital stay and the number of complications between two groups(P<0.05). One month after operation, there was significant difference in Harris score between two groups(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in Harris score between two groups 12 months after operation(P>0.05). After the failure of intramedullary nail fixation of femoral intertrochanteric fracture in elderly patients, there is no significant difference in mortality and final hip function between early operation and delayed operation. However, early pedestrian femoral head replacement can make patients go down to the ground earlier, shorten the length of hospital stay, effectively reduce the complication rate and restore hip function as soon as possible.