Prospective randomised controlled trial of an intramedullary nail versus a sliding hip screw for intertrochanteric fractures of the femur.

Purpose: The purpose of this prospective randomised trial was to assess whether an intramedullary nail is superior to a sliding hip screw in the treatment of multifragmentary intertrochanteric fractures

Methods: Eighty patients with a 31-A2.2 or A2.3 Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen/Orthopaedic Trauma Association (AO/OTA) intertrochanteric fracture were randomly allocated to fixation with either the Gamma nail or the AMBI sliding hip screw device.

Evolving concepts of stability and intramedullary fixation of intertrochanteric fractures--a review.

Intramedullary nailing is gradually emerging as the treatment of choice for pertrochanteric femoral fractures. Nevertheless, prospective randomised trials have failed to demonstrate the assumed superiority of cephalomedullary nails over the traditional treatment with the sliding hip screw. On the contrary, the gamma nail has been implicated in predisposing to secondary femoral fractures, although this seems to be rectified by newer techniques and nail designs.