Systematic effects of surgical treatment of hip fractures: gliding screw-plating vs intramedullary nailing.

Aim: Numerous studies have been published regarding the comparison between intramedullary nail and the dynamic hip screw and plate for the fixation of intertrochanteric fractures in elderly patients. In this paper we present a comparative study of these two methods regarding their systemic effects on this group of patients.

Materials-methods: This is a randomized trial of 120 consecutive patients with an intertrochanteric fracture treated with either extramedullary fixation (dynamic hip screw and plate; DHS, Synthes-Stratec, Oberdorf, Switzerland) or intramedullary nail (Gamma nail, Stryker Howmedica, Freiburg, Germany and Endovis BA, Citieffe, Bologna, Italy).