Publication:

Treatment of trochanteric fractures by PFN or DHS

Background Intertrochanteric fracture is one of the common fractures of the hip in the elderly over the age of 50 years. Dynamic hip screw is still considered the gold standard for treating intertrochantric fractures by many. Not many studies compare the DHS with proximal femoral nail (PFN).

Methods This prospective study included 32 patients of intertrochanteric fractures in which 16 patients were treated by PFN and rest 16 by DHS. All patients were operated under image intensifier control. Average age of the patients was 65 years (20-80) years.

Results In our series the patients with DHS has increased intra operative blood loss (160 ml), longer duration of surgery (54.6 min) and required longer time for mobilization (15 weeks) while patients who underwent PFN had lower intra op blood loss (95 ml), shorter duration of surgery (41.2 min). The Salvati and Wilson hip scoring is better in PFN group.

Conclusions PFN produces better results than DHS in terms of shorter duration of surgery, early weight bearing, lower infection rate and less blood loss.