Citation

Hernefalk L, Granström P, Messner K. Acta Radiol. (1987) 1995; 36(3): 233-236.

Affiliation

Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1995, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7742113

Abstract

Using orthoradiography, the distance between the centre of the femoral head and the intercondylar notch was assessed at regular intervals in 144 patients who were followed for a 2-year period after osteosynthesis of a femoral neck fracture. Late complications, such as segmental collapse and non-union, occurred in 27% of the patients. The degree of femoral shortening was significantly correlated to the incidence of late complications. At 1 month, femoral shortening of more than 5 mm was observed in 85% of patients who developed late complications, and in only 5% of patients without such complications. Thus, the observation of a shortening of more than 5 mm predicted a greater than 6-fold increase of the incidence of late complications. The prognostic accuracy of this observation 1 month after treatment was 92%.

Language: en