[A medium term therapeutic effects of anatomic locking plate for femoral intertrochanteric with lateral femoral wall fractures].

Objective: To retrospectively study medium term follow-up outcomes of the femoral intertrochanteric with lateral femoral wall fractures using anatomic locking plate fixation.

Methods: From June 2010 to January 2013, 18 cases of the unstable femoral intertrochanteric with lateral femoral wall fractures were treated with the anatomic locking plate, included 8 males and 10 females with an average age of 75.5 years ranging from 19 to 83 years old. There were 8 cases of traffic accident injuries, 6 cases of falls injuries, and 4 cases of falling from high place. The time from injury to operation was ranged from 1 to 14 days with an average of 4.5 days. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss and the length of hospitalization were recorded and analyzed. The fracture union was assessed by follow-up radiographs and hip functional recovery by PPMS and Harris hip scoring.

Results: All patients were followed up from 36 to 68 months with a mean of(44.8±8.8) months. The mean operative time was (61.02±38.28) min;the mean blood loss was (226.00±162.52) ml;the mean length of hospitalization was (10.8±9.2) days. During the follow-up period, no infection, deep veintllrombosis, screwed cut-out and implant failure occurred in all patients. Coxa vara with shortening deformity was noted in 2 cases. Bone union was found in all the cases. The bone healing time was ranged from 4 to 10 months with an average of 6.2 months. The mean PPMS score at the final follow-up was 7.22±2.36. The Harris score was 79.46±11.02, 5 cases were classified as excellent, 9 as good and 2 as fair.

Conclusions: Proximal femoral anatomic locking plate can be used in treating intertrochanteric fractures with compromised lateral wall, which has a satisfied medium term follow-up outcomes, especially for complex fractures patterns in which intramedullary nailing may be difficult, and should not emphasis on premature loading.