Clinical and functional comparison of dynamic hip screws and intramedullary nails for treating proximal femur metastases in older individuals

Objective:To compare the outcomes of dynamic hip screws(DHS)and intramedullary nailing(IMN)in the treatment of extra-capsular metastatic carcinoma of the proximal femur.Methods:A retrospective case analysis method was used to examine data of patients with proximal metastatic cancer of the femur who were treated with internal fixation in Department of Orthopaedics,Beijing Friendship Hospital,from January 2007 to December 2018.Blood loss,postoperative pain,functional score,length of stay,and survival rates were compared,and postoperative complications were assessed.Results:Complete follow-up data were available for 33 patients.The mean follow-up period was 12.2±3.6(range:9-32)months and the average age was 72.3±4.7(range:59-83)years old.There were 20 females and 13 males.Twenty-three patients had undergone IMN and 10 DHS,according to bone defects and the patient’s overall condition.The median survival time was 10 months in the IMN group and 11 months in the DHS group.Duration of surgery(t=-7.366,P<0.001)and length of hospital stay(t=-3.509,P<0.001)differed significantly between the two groups.There was one case of breakage of internal fixation in the IMN group.Conclusions:There was no significant difference between DHS and IMN in terms of surgical efficacy.IMN and DHS were different in terms of surgical time and hospital stay.However,due to the limited number of cases in this study,multi-factor analysis has not been performed and needs to be further verified in future analysis.When developing a surgical plan,it is recommended to consider the patient’s condition and the surgeon’s experience.

Watson-Jones Anatomical Approach for Open Reduction and Internal Fixation of Proximal Femoral Fractures without Image Intensifier in a Low-Resource Setting

Introduction: Standard procedures for surgical fixation of proximal femoral fractures (PFF) require an image intensifier which in developing countries remains a luxury. We hypothesized that, with a well-codified technique, the Watson Jones approach (WJA) without image intensifier nor traction table, can allow open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of PFF using Dynamic hip screw (DHS), with satisfactory outcome. Patients and methods: Forty one consecutive patients (mean age 59.5 ± 21.6 years, 61% males) who were followed in a Teaching Hospital for PFF treated by ORIF using the WJA and DHS from January 2016 to December 2020 were reassessed. The outcome measures were the quality of the reduction, the positioning of the implants, the tip-apex distance (TAD), the rate and delay of consolidation, the functional results using Postel Merle d’Aubigné (PMA) score, the rate of surgical site infection (SSI) and the overall mortality. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with mechanical failure. Results: The mean follow-up period was 33.8 ± 15.0 months. Fracture reduction was good in 31 (75.6%) cases and acceptable in 8(19.5%) cases. Implant position was fair to good in 37 (90.2%) patients. The mean TAD was 26.1 ± 3.9 mm. Three patients developed SSI. Consolidation was achieved in 38 (92.6%) patients. The functional results were good to excellent in 80.5% of patients. The overall mortality rate was 7.3%. There were an association between mechanical failure and osteoporosis (p = 0.04), fracture reduction (p = 0.003), and TAD (p = 0.025). In multivariate logistic regression, no independent factors were predictive of mechanical failure. Conclusion: This study shows that ORIF using DHS for PFF via the Watson-Jones approach without an image intensifier can give satisfactory anatomical and functional outcomes in low-resource settings. It provides and validates a reliable and reproducible technique that deserves to be diffused to surgeons in austere areas over the world.