Salvage of failed osteosynthesis of an intracapsular fracture of the femoral neck using two cannulated compression screws and a vascularised iliac crest bone graft.

We evaluated the outcome of treatment of nonunion of an intracapsular fracture of the femoral neck in young patients using two cannulated screws and a vascularised bone graft. A total of 32 patients (15 women and 17 men, with a mean age of 36.5 years; 20 to 50) with failed internal fixation of an intracapsular fracture were included in the study. Following removal of the primary fixation, two cannulated compression screws were inserted with a vascularised iliac crest bone graft based on the ascending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery. At a mean follow-up of 6.8 years (4 to 10), union was achieved in 27 hips (84%). A total of five patients with a mean age of 40.5 years (35 to 50) had a persistent nonunion and underwent total hip arthroplasty as also did two patients whose fracture united but who developed osteonecrosis of the femoral head two years post-operatively. Statistical analysis showed that younger patients achieved earlier and more reliable union (p < 0.001). The functional outcome, as assessed by the Harris Hip score, was better in patients aged < 45 years compared with those aged > 45 years (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that further fixation using two cannulated compression screws and a vascularised iliac crest bone graft is an effective salvage treatment in patients aged < 45 years, in whom osteosynthesis of a displaced intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck has failed.

A retrospective analysis of the use of cannulated compression screws and a vascularised iliac bone graft in the treatment of displaced fracture of the femoral neck in patients aged < 50 years.

There is a high risk of the development of avascular necrosis of the femoral head and nonunion after the treatment of displaced subcapital fractures of the femoral neck in patients aged < 50 years. We retrospectively analysed the results following fixation with two cannulated compression screws and a vascularised iliac bone graft. We treated 18 women and 16 men with a mean age of 38.5 years (20 to 50) whose treatment included the use of an iliac bone graft based on the ascending branch of lateral femoral circumflex artery. There were 20 Garden grade III and 14 grade IV fractures. Clinical and radiological outcomes were evaluated. The mean follow-up was 5.4 years (2 to 10). In 30 hips (88%) union was achieved at a mean of 4.4 months (4 to 6). Nonunion occurred in four hips (12%) and these patients had a mean age of 46.5 years (42 to 50) and underwent revision to a hip replacement six months after operation. The time to union was dependent on age with younger patients achieving earlier union (p < 0.001). According to the Harris hip score which was available for 27 of the 30 hips with satisfactory union, excellent results were obtained in 15 (score ≥ 90 points), fair in ten (score 80 to 90 points), and poor in two hips (≤ 80 points). One patient aged 48 years developed avascular necrosis of femoral head six years after operation and underwent total hip replacement. The management of displaced subcapital fractures of the femoral neck, in patients aged < 50 years, with two cannulated compression screws and an iliac bone graft based on the ascending branch of lateral femoral circumflex artery, gives satisfactory results with a low rate of complication including avascular necrosis and nonunion.

A comparative biomechanical study of spinal fixation using the combination spinal rod-plate and transpedicular screw fixation system.

A biomechanical study was performed comparing the stiffness and stability of the three-level combination spinal rod-plate and transpedicular screw (CSRP-TPS) fixation system with those of three anterior stabilization constructs that spanned three vertebral levels: iliac strut grafting, polymethylmethacrylate and anterior Harrington rod instrumentation (technique of Siegal et al.), and the Kaneda anterior device. The CSRP-TPS fixation system was also compared with five posterior instrumentation systems that spanned five vertebral levels: Harrington distraction rod instrumentation, segmentally wired Luque rectangular instrumentation, Cotrel-Dubousset transpedicular instrumentation. Steffee transpedicular screws and plates, and R. Roy-Camille plates under conditions of single-level instability. The relative stability of each instrumentation system was compared by mounting the fixation systems on calf spine segments containing five motion segments destabilized by complete L3 anterior corpectomies and L2-L3 and L3-L4 anterior diskectomies to simulate the two-column instability found clinically in spine fractures. Mechanical nondestructive cyclical testing in rotation, axial compression, and flexion was performed on 12 spines. All biomechanical tests were performed on a biaxial servo-controlled MTS 858 Bionix hydraulic materials testing device with a biaxial load cell. Intervertebral displacements between L2 and L4 were continuously recorded utilizing an extensometer with the knife edges placed directly adjacent to the L3 corpectomy defect during testing. This biomechanical study showed that CSRP-TPS instrumentation spanning three vertebral levels could restore the torsional, compressive, and flexural rigidity of the destabilized calf spines to that of the intact calf spines and provided more in vitro stability than either the traditional five-level Harrington distraction rod or the segmentally wired Luque rectangular instrumentation. The greatest torsional rigidity occurred with the five-level Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation, the five-level Steffee plate and screw system, and the three-level Kaneda anterior device. In axial compression and flexural testing, the three-level CSRP-TPS system provided fixation comparable with the five-level Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation, the five-level Steffee transpedicular screw and plate system, the five-level R. Roy-Camille plate and screw system, and the three-level Kaneda anterior device. Satisfactory levels of rigidity can be restored by three-level CSRP-TPS instrumentation under conditions of single-level instability in unstable thoracolumbar and lumbar spine fractures.