Treatment of Subtrochanteric Fracture of the Femur

Rah, Soo Kyoon; Choi, Chang Uk; Kim, Hak Hyun; Kim, Yon Il; Choi, Hee Soo

Abstract

Subtrochanteric fracture of the femur is more difficult to treat than other bone fracture. Subtrochanteric fracture occurs in bone that is predominently cortical and biomechanical analyeis of stress in the femur ahowed that there is a high concentration of stress in the subtrochanteric region. These two factors, involvement of cortical bone tissue and concentration of stress, frequently have been mentioned as reasons for the high incidence of complications in the treatment of these fractures. The authors treated 23 cases of subtrochanteric fracture of the femur in 1974 through 1981, at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Soon Chun Hyang College. The results were as follows: 1. Of 23 cases of subtrochanteric fracture, 15 cases occurred in man, 8 cases in woman. 2. The most common cause of fracture was due to traffic accident. 3. Of 23 cases of subtrochanteric fracture, 9 cases were type lI, and 7 cases were type I & II by Fielding's classification. 4. 19 cases out of 23 were treated by means of the open reduction and internal fixation. As the internal fixation material, we used Kuntscher nail, Smith-Peterson and Thornton plate, Compression hip screw and plate until December 1978, and Zickel nail from January 1979. 5. The mean duration of bony union in subtrochanteric fracture treated by Zickel nail was shorter than the other implants. The incidence of complications such as coxa vara, delayed union, metal breakage occurred higher in the cases treated by Kuntscher nail, Smith-Peterson nail and Thornton plate, Campression hip screw and plate. 6. Zickel nail is one of the good implant for the treatment of subtrochanteric fracture of the femur.