Sliding Hip Screws Feasible for Trochanteric Fractures

WEDNESDAY, June 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Sliding hip screws (SHSs) have comparable one-year outcomes to intramedullary nails (IMNs) for fixation of trochanteric hip fractures, according to a study published online June 6 in JAMA Network Open.

Emil H. Schemitsch, M.D., from the London Health Sciences Centre and Western University in Canada, and colleagues compared one-year outcomes of patients with trochanteric fractures treated with the IMN versus an SHS. The analysis included 850 patients with low-energy trochanteric fractures treated at 25 international sites across 12 countries.

The researchers found that at the one-year postsurgery follow-up (304 treated with the IMN and 317 treated with an SHS), there were no significant differences between groups in EuroQol-5 Dimension scores in unadjusted or adjusted analyses. Furthermore, for secondary outcomes, there were no between-group differences observed. Fracture stability and previous fracture were also similar between the groups.

"This randomized clinical trial found that IMNs for the treatment of trochanteric fractures had similar one-year outcomes compared with SHSs," the authors write. "These results suggest that the SHS is an acceptable lower-cost alternative for trochanteric fractures of the hip."

The study was funded by Stryker, the manufacturer of the IMN, and several authors disclosed ties to the company.

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