Citation

Parker MJ, Twemlow TR. Acta Orthop. Scand. 1997; 68(4): 325-326.

Affiliation

Peterborough District Hospital, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9310033

Abstract

We assessed the relationship between the onset of pain and the fall in a consecutive series of 1,212 patients admitted to a single hospital with an acute hip fracture. 915 patients could be evaluated. The overall incidence of spontaneous fractures was 7%, but this fell to 5% if pathological fractures were excluded. The incidence of fractures without a fall was 6%. 2% of patients gave a history of pain for up to 8 weeks before the fall and only 2 of the patients gave a history of acute pain in the hip, causing them to fall. Physicians should be aware that a spontaneous hip fracture can occur without any history of trauma and such fractures are likely to be pathological or intracapsular.

Language: en