Author(s)

Tsuyoshi Nakai, Atsunori Onishi, Kunihiko Hashimoto, Toshiyuki Nakamura, Naohiro Yasuda, Akira Miyama

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Itami City Hospital, Itami, Japan.

Background: Fractures of the hip are the cause of hospitalization in the geriatric population. In many cases, hip fractures are a sentinel event signaling a systemic decline in the patient’s health. Methods: A retrospective review of the cases of 88 patients aged 75 years or older with proximal femoral fracture was performed. Fracture types, surgical procedures, walking ability before the injury and at discharge, and waiting time from injury to surgery were obtained. Results: No significant difference was observed in walking ability before injury among patients with femoral neck fracture treated with bipolar hip arthroplasty (BHA) or open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) and those with trochanteric fracture. The degree of deterioration of walking ability was 0.6 in patients treated with BHA, 1.2 in those with neck fracture treated with ORIF, and 1.1 in those with trochanteric fracture. Deterioration was significantly less severe in patients who received BHA, compared with those who received ORIF. Conclusions: Among the patients aged 75 years or older with femoral neck fracture, those who received BHA had a shorter time interval to the start of walking with parallel assist bars or with walking aids, and also had a higher rate of regaining walking ability.

Walking Ability; Proximal Femur Fracture; Elderly Patients

T. Nakai, A. Onishi, K. Hashimoto, T. Nakamura, N. Yasuda and A. Miyama, "Study on Walking Ability after Surgery for Proximal Femoral Fracture in Elderly Patients Aged 75 Years or Older," Open Journal of Orthopedics, Vol. 3 No. 2, 2013, pp. 94-96. doi: 10.4236/ojo.2013.32018.