Lengths of intramedullary nails and treatment efficacy of osteoporotic unstable intertrochanteric fracture / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effects of lengths of intramedullary nails on the treatment efficacy of osteoporotic unstable intertrochanteric fracture.Methods:Retrospectively analyzed were the data of patients with osteoporotic unstable intertrochanteric fracture who had been admitted to Department of Orthopedics, China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January 2017 to December 2019. According to the lengths of intramedullary nails, the patients were divided into 2 groups. In the short nail group of 135 cases, there were 38 males and 97 females with an age of (82.2 ± 7.7) years and an intramedullary nail with a length of 170 mm was used. In the long nail group of 32 cases, there were 8 males and 24 females with an age of (81.5±7.1) years and an intramedullary nail longer than 300 mm was used. The amount of intraoperative hemoglobin drop value, operation time, Harris hip score at 6 months after surgery, incidence of complications and mortality were compared between the 2 groups.Results:There was no significant difference in the preoperative general data between the 2 groups, indicating comparability between groups ( P>0.05). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in intraoperative hemoglobin drop value [(19.8±2.2) g/L versus (20.0±2.1) g/L], Harris hip score (72.0±3.0 versus 71.2±3.6), incidence of complications [3.0% (4/135) versus 6.2 (2/32)] or mortality [14.3% (19/135) versus 15.6% (5/32)] ( P>0.05). The long nail group needed significantly longer operation time than the short nail group [(84.6±5.6) min versus (92.0±7.2) min] ( P<0.05). Conclusions:In the treatment of osteoporotic unstable intertrochanteric fracture, short and long intramedullary nails show no significant difference in hemoglobin drop value, functional score, complications or mortality, indicating they can both lead to safe and reliable curative efficacy. However, long nails need longer operation time.