Extracapsular fracture of the femur in an elderly male from the Church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (Setúbal, Portugal).

In modern populations, hip fractures in older people are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Their incidence is rising; notwithstanding, fractures of the proximal femur are still relatively uncommon in archeological contexts. This case study represents a well-healed hip fracture in an aged male skeleton from Church of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada (16th-19th centuries AD) in Setúbal (Portugal). The individual was also diagnosed with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. Fractures of the proximal femur are usually associated with bone loss but in this case other causes are proposed, including the anatomy of the proximal femur, and the potential combined effect of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and falls.

Treatment of hip fracture of Pope Innocent XII by Marcello Malpighi with bed rest.

Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), who is referred to as the father of microscopical anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology was an Italian biologist and physician, well known for his discoveries on microscopical anatomy of kidney, circulating and lymphatic systems. As well as being a brilliant anatomist, Malpighi was also a valued physician so far as to became the personal physician of Pope Innocent XII (1615-1700). On 23 August 1691, one month after his election, the Pope fell to the ground hitting his left hip. Malpighi, as his personal physician, was immediately called and diagnosed a hip fracture. At that time fractures were generally treated by surgeons, barbers and sawbones, while physicians were mainly concerned with internal diseases. Despite that, Marcello Malpighi cured Pope Innocent XII's hip fracture by applying some modern traumatologic concepts. This article analyses how Malpighi treated this hip fracture, comparing it with the current approach.

History of femoral head fracture and coronal fracture of the femoral condyles.

The first known description of the coronal fracture of the lateral femoral condyle was published by Busch in 1869. Hoffa used Busch's drawing in the first edition of his book in 1888 and accompanied it only with one sentence. A full case history of this fracture pattern was described by Braun in 1891. However, Braun's article fell into oblivion and so the fracture was popularized only in the fourth edition of Hoffa's textbook, particularly thanks to the drawing, rather than the brief description. Therefore, a fracture of the posterior femoral condyle, or more specifically, of the lateral condyle, could properly be called "Busch-Hoffa fracture". Femoral head fracture was initially described by Birkett in 1869. Of essential importance in this respect were the publications by Christopher in 1924 and, particularly, Pipkin's study of 1957, including his classification that is still in use today. A historically correct eponym for a femoral head fracture would therefore be "Birkitt-Pipkin fracture".

The history of internal fixation of proximal femur fractures Ernst Pohl-the genius behind.

The most frequently used implants for internal fixation of proximal femoral fractures are currently the dynamic hip screw and the intramedullary hip nail. However, little has been written about one of the pioneers in this field, a German genius, the designer Ernst Pohl (1876-1962). Without his involvement the concepts of intramedullary nailing coined by Gerhard Küntscher, Richard Maatz and other surgeons could hardly have been implemented. Through his achievements Pohl has rightly merited his pre-eminent position in the history of bone surgery. This article outlines the extraordinary contribution of Ernst Pohl to the development of skeletal surgery and radiology, as well as other medical disciplines.

Secular trends in hip fractures worldwide: opposing trends East versus West.

Despite wide variations in hip rates fractures worldwide, reasons for such differences are not clear. Furthermore, secular trends in the age-specific hip fracture rates are changing the world map of this devastating disease, with the highest rise projected to occur in developing countries. The aim of our investigation is to systematically characterize secular trends in hip fractures worldwide, examine new data for various ethnic groups in the United States, evidence for divergent temporal patterns, and investigate potential contributing factors for the observed change in their epidemiology. All studies retrieved through a complex Medline Ovid search between 1966 and 2013 were examined. For each selected study, we calculated the percent annual change in age-standardized hip fracture rates de-novo. Although occurring at different time points, trend breaks in hip fracture incidence occurred in most Western countries and Oceania. After a steep rise in age-adjusted rates in these regions, a decrease became evident sometimes between the mid-seventies and nineties, depending on the country. Conversely, the data is scarce in Asia and South America, with evidence for a continuous rise in hip fracture rates, with the exception of Hong-Kong and Taiwan that seem to follow Western trends. The etiologies of these secular patterns in both the developed and the developing countries have not been fully elucidated, but the impact of urbanization is at least one plausible explanation. Data presented here show close parallels between rising rates of urbanization and hip fractures across disparate geographic locations and cultures. Once the proportion of the urban population stabilized, hip fracture rates also stabilize or begin to decrease perhaps due to the influence of other factors such as birth cohort effects, changes in bone mineral density and BMI, osteoporosis medication use and/or lifestyle interventions such as smoking cessation, improvement in nutritional status and fall prevention.

Osteobiography of a 19th century elderly woman with pertrochanteric fracture and osteoporosis: a multidisciplinary approach.

In this paper the osteobiography of an elderly woman recovered from a cemetery tomb where she was buried in 1850, affected by hip fracture and osteoporosis, is described. The overall anthropological characteristics of the individual have been investigated. Macroscopic, radiographic, tomographic, microscopic, and chemical and structural examinations have been performed to give a detailed account of the condition of the skeleton. A non-union pertrochanteric fracture not surgically treated and probably due to senile osteoporosis was diagnosed. The consequences of the fracture to the bones show that this individual likely survived several years following the injury. The osseous features we describe (remodelled bone at the fracture site, asymmetry of entheseal changes likely related to the particular walking pattern of the individual) may be useful in personal identification of skeletons of legal interest. Regarding the recognition of osteoporosis in unearthed skeletons, our study underlines that the cortical thickness, microscopic features, degree of crystallinity and Ca/P ratio represent more useful elements than the mean bone density, mineral/matrix ratio and mineral maturity, which are more sensitive to diagenetic changes that affect the mineral phase post-mortem.

Fractured hips: surgical authority, futility and innovation in nineteenth century medicine.

Orthopaedists have long found hip fractures to be a significant source of clinical uncertainty and professional disagreement. For much of the nineteenth century, surgeons were happy to follow Sir Astley Cooper's directive to 'treat the patient and let the fracture go'. Most sufferers were elderly, near the end of their lives and at significant risk from morbid complications. This palliative posture was further justified by a substantial corpus of medical evidence. Any attempt at therapeutic innovation was unwarranted because clinical experience, post-mortem studies and animal experiments indicated that fractures within the hip joint never healed. Yet as there were isolated cases of intra-capsular healing, surgeons such as Nicholas Senn began to contest this evidence. To his consternation, as he tried to demonstrate the possibility of restorative treatments, Senn found the fundamental problem with hip fractures was that the empiricism of current clinical methods created and perpetuated their own therapeutic justifications.