Development and validation of an artificial intelligence model for the classification of hip fractures using the AO-OTA framework.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to aid in the accurate diagnosis of hip fractures and reduce the workload of clinicians. We primarily aimed to develop and validate a convolutional neural network (CNN) for the automated classification of hip fractures based on the 2018 AO-OTA classification system. The secondary aim was to incorporate the model's assessment of additional radiographic findings that often accompany such injuries. METHODS: 6,361 plain radiographs of the hip taken between 2002 and 2016 at Danderyd University Hospital were used to train the CNN. A separate set of 343 radiographs representing 324 unique patients was used to test the performance of the network. Performance was evaluated using area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and Youden's index. RESULTS: The CNN demonstrated high performance in identifying and classifying hip fracture, with AUCs ranging from 0.76 to 0.99 for different fracture categories. The AUC for hip fractures ranged from 0.86 to 0.99, for distal femur fractures from 0.76 to 0.99, and for pelvic fractures from 0.91 to 0.94. For 29 of 39 fracture categories, the AUC was ≥ 0.95. CONCLUSION: We found that AI has the potential for accurate and automated classification of hip fractures based on the AO-OTA classification system. Further training and modification of the CNN may enable its use in clinical settings.

Long-term Bisphosphonates for Osteoporosis: A Factor Effecting Fracture Pattern?

BACKGROUND: The incidence of fragility hip fractures, intracapsular and extracapsular, has been increasing worldwide. Fracture stability is important for treatment decision-making and is related to the expected rate of complications. It is unclear whether metabolic therapy explains the increased incidence of unstable fractures. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the possible association between treatment with bisphosphonates and the various patterns encountered with intertrochanteric hip fractures. METHODS: Patients with fragility hip fractures who were treated in our department between 2013 and 2014 were included in this study. They were classified into three groups: group 1 had a stable extracapsular fracture, group 2 had an unstable extracapsular fracture, and group 3 had an intracapsular fracture. Collated data included: osteoporosis preventive therapy and duration, fracture-type, history of previous fractures, and vitamin D levels. RESULTS: Of 370 patients, 87 were previously treated with bisphosphonates (18.3% prior to fracture in group 1, 38.3% in group 2, and 13.8% in group 3). Of those treated with bisphosphonates, 56.3% had an unstable fracture, 21.8% had a stable fracture, and the rest an intracapsular fracture. In contrast, only 27.9% of patients who were not treated with bisphosphonates had an unstable fracture and 30.0% had stable fractures. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show a higher proportion of complex and unstable fractures among patients with fragility hip-fractures who were treated with bisphosphonates than among those who did not receive this treatment. The risk for complex and unstable fracture may affect the preferred surgical treatment, its complexity, length of surgery, and rehabilitation.

Evaluation of Judet view radiographs accuracy in classification of acetabular fractures compared with three-dimensional computerized tomographic scan: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: In the current diagnostic procedure, generally, both plain radiographs and 3D-CT scans are used for the diagnosis of acetabular fractures. There is no consensus regarding the value of a three-dimensional computerized tomographic (3D-CT) scan alone in the classification of acetabular fractures. In this study, we compared the accuracy of 3D-CT scan and plain radiography through the evaluation of their agreement with the intraoperative surgeon's classification. METHOD: In a retrospective study, patients who were referred to our center with an acetabular fracture and underwent surgical treatment were included. The classification of acetabular fractures was performed once using Judet view plain radiographs and once using a 3D-CT scan by the corresponding one Experienced musculoskeletal radiologist one independent trauma fellowship-trained orthopaedic who routinely treat acetabular fractures and based on Letournel and Judet classification (17 and 23 years of experience respectively). Cohen's kappa value was used for the assessment agreement between the two imaging modalities, as well as between the imaging modalities and intraoperative classification. RESULTS: Medical files of 152 patients with acetabular fracture were retrospectively reviewed. A kappa value of 0.236 was obtained as the agreement level between radiographs and intraoperative findings (p < 0.001). A kappa value of 0.943 was obtained as the agreement level between 3D-CT and intraoperative classification (p < 0.001). An agreement level of 0.264 was found between the Judet radiographs and 3D-CT scans (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: 3D-CT scans are reliable enough in the classification of acetabular fractures, and plain radiographs could be omitted to avoid radiation exposure as well as to reduce the cost for patients who sustain acetabular fractures.

Comparison of three-dimensional and two-dimensional computed tomographies in the classification of acetabular fractures.

PURPOSE: This study compared the accuracy and timeliness of two-dimensional computed tomography (2DCT) and three-dimensional computed tomography (3DCT) in the diagnosis of different types of acetabular fractures and by different groups of interpreters using the Letournel and Judet classification system. METHODS: Twenty-five fractures cases, five each of five common types of acetabular fractures, were selected. Nineteen interpreters with different levels of experience (ten graduate trainees and nine radiologists) individually classified the fractures using multiplanar 2D and standardized 3DCT images. The 3DCT image set was comprised of 39 images of rotational views of the entire pelvis and the disarticulated fracture hip. Consensus reading by three experts served as a reference standard. RESULTS: Classification accuracy was 66% using 2DCT, increasing to 73% (p = 0.041) when 3DCT was used. Improvement occurred in the interpretation of transverse and posterior wall-type fractures (p < 0.01 and p = 0.015, respectively), but not in T-type, transverse with posterior wall, or both-column fractures. The improvement was noted only in the graduate trainee group (p = 0.016) but not the radiologist group (p = 0.619). Inter-observer reliability in the graduate trainee group improved from poor to moderate with 3DCT, but remained at a moderate level in both 2DCT and 3DCT in the radiologist group. The overall average interpretation time per case with correct diagnosis was 60 s for 2DCT but only 32 s for 3DCT. CONCLUSIONS: Standardized 3DCT provides greater reliability and faster diagnosis of acetabular fractures and helps improve the accuracy in transverse- and posterior wall-type fractures. In addition, it helps improve the accuracy of less experienced interpreters.

Incidence and pattern of periprosthetic hip fractures around the stem in different stem geometry.

BACKGROUND: The number of total hip arthroplasties (THA) is expected to increase worldwide; thus, complications are likely to increase at the same ratio. In this scenario, periprosthetic femoral fractures (PFFs) are an increasing concern. Identifying the predisposing factors is important in order to prevent as much as possible the risk of PFF in the future. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The purpose of this study was to correlate the risk of periprosthetic femoral fractures to the most common patients' comorbidities and stem geometry. We reviewed all THA for non-oncologic indications between 2004 and 2014 with a mean follow-up of six years (range, 2-12). Three thousand two hundred forty-eight patients (3593 implants) were enrolled in the study, and 45 PFF were registered during this time period. Two thousand five hundred seventy-seven implants (71%) were straight stems, and 1015 (28.3%) were anatomic stems. All X-rays were then analyzed and classified according to the modified Vancouver classification. RESULTS: Periprosthetic femoral fractures incidence was associated with anatomic stem geometry (p < 0.001, OR = 2.2), BMI (p < 0.001), and diabetes (p < 0.001, OR = 5.18). PFFs were not significantly associated with age, gender, and all the other variables. Fracture pattern was different between straight and anatomic stems. Clamshell fractures were more likely to occur in anatomic stems compared to straight stems (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Periprosthetic femoral fractures are highly associated with obesity and osteoporosis. Anatomic stems reported a higher incidence of PPF than straight stems. The typical fracture type for anatomical stems is the clamshell pattern, while straight stems are more likely affected by type B fractures.

A clinical text classification paradigm using weak supervision and deep representation.

BACKGROUND: Automatic clinical text classification is a natural language processing (NLP) technology that unlocks information embedded in clinical narratives. Machine learning approaches have been shown to be effective for clinical text classification tasks. However, a successful machine learning model usually requires extensive human efforts to create labeled training data and conduct feature engineering. In this study, we propose a clinical text classification paradigm using weak supervision and deep representation to reduce these human efforts. METHODS: We develop a rule-based NLP algorithm to automatically generate labels for the training data, and then use the pre-trained word embeddings as deep representation features for training machine learning models. Since machine learning is trained on labels generated by the automatic NLP algorithm, this training process is called weak supervision. We evaluat the paradigm effectiveness on two institutional case studies at Mayo Clinic: smoking status classification and proximal femur (hip) fracture classification, and one case study using a public dataset: the i2b2 2006 smoking status classification shared task. We test four widely used machine learning models, namely, Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Multilayer Perceptron Neural Networks (MLPNN), and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), using this paradigm. Precision, recall, and F1 score are used as metrics to evaluate performance. RESULTS: CNN achieves the best performance in both institutional tasks (F1 score: 0.92 for Mayo Clinic smoking status classification and 0.97 for fracture classification). We show that word embeddings significantly outperform tf-idf and topic modeling features in the paradigm, and that CNN captures additional patterns from the weak supervision compared to the rule-based NLP algorithms. We also observe two drawbacks of the proposed paradigm that CNN is more sensitive to the size of training data, and that the proposed paradigm might not be effective for complex multiclass classification tasks. CONCLUSION: The proposed clinical text classification paradigm could reduce human efforts of labeled training data creation and feature engineering for applying machine learning to clinical text classification by leveraging weak supervision and deep representation. The experimental experiments have validated the effectiveness of paradigm by two institutional and one shared clinical text classification tasks.

A simplified classification of proximal femoral fractures improves accuracy, confidence, and inter-reader agreement of hip fracture classification by radiology residents.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the effect of teaching a simplified treatment-based classification of proximal femoral fractures on the accuracy, confidence, and inter-reader agreement of radiology residents. The authors hypothesize that these measures will improve after viewing an educational presentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three radiology residents independently classified 100 operative proximal femoral fractures, both before and after viewing a 45-min educational video describing the simplified classification scheme, with a washout period of at least 12 weeks between sessions. Based on the gold standard established by consensus of two radiologists and an orthopedic trauma surgeon utilizing intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging, operative reports, and pre-procedural imaging, accuracy of classification was calculated for each reader before and after viewing the educational video. Reader confidence was recorded on a 0-10 scale, and inter-reader agreement was calculated with Fleiss's kappa. McNemar's test was used to compare accuracy, a paired t test was used to compare confidence, and the Z-test was used to compare kappa values after bootstrapping to determine the standard error of the mean. RESULTS: The study cohort included 60/100 females, with a mean age of 76.6 years. The pooled classification accuracy was initially 65%, which improved to 80% in the second reading session after viewing the educational video (p < 0.0001). Confidence improved from 6.9 initially to 8.6 (p < 0.0001). Inter-reader agreement improved from a kappa of 0.45 (moderate agreement) to 0.74 (substantial agreement) (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: A simplified treatment-based classification of proximal femoral fractures is easily taught to radiology residents and resulted in increased accuracy, increased inter-reader agreement, and increased reader confidence.

Comparison of the modified Heuter approach and the Kocher-Langenbeck approach in the treatment of Pipkin type I and type II femoral head fractures.

PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare the effectiveness of the modified Heuter approach and the Kocher-Langenbeck approach in the treatment of Pipkin type I and II femoral head fractures. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of 39 patients with Pipkin type I or type II femoral head fractures who were treated by open reduction and internal fixation through the modified Heuter approach (the Heuter group) or the Kocher-Langenbeck approach (the K-L group) between June 2013 and January 2016. Standard radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans were obtained before surgery and during the follow-up. The two approaches were compared in reference to operative time, amount of blood loss, the occurrence of complications, and final functional outcome. The Brooker classification was used to document heterotopic ossification and the Thompson-Epstein scores were used for final evaluation. RESULTS: The mean operative time and estimated blood loss in the Heuter group were lower than those in the K-L group (P < 0.001 for both measures). The incisions healed primarily in all patients after surgery, no infection or deep venous thromboses were detected in either group, post-operative imaging data showed that dislocation and fractures were reduced, and the fractures finally achieved bony union. There were no significant differences in the incidence of complications or final functional outcomes between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the Kocher-Langenbeck approach, the modified Heuter approach can effectively reduce the blood loss and operative time without increasing the risk of complications; this approach is simple, straightforward, and atraumatic and may be a viable option for open reduction and internal fixation of Pipkin type I and type II femoral head fractures.

Effect of reduction quality on post-operative outcomes in 31-A2 intertrochanteric fractures following intramedullary fixation: a retrospective study based on computerised tomography findings.

PURPOSE: To determine how the reduction of medial and anteromedial cortices using CT findings in 31-A2 intertrochanteric fractures treated with the intramedullary nail could affect the clinical outcomes and complication rates of the fractures. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 43 patients with 31-A2 intertrochanteric fractures who underwent closed reduction and intramedullary internal fixation (CRIF) between January 2010 and December 2013. Patients were classified into two groups based on the post-operative CT scans taken from the sagittal and coronal planes, respectively. Five radiographic parameters and three clinical parameters were used to evaluate the post-operative functional states and mobilization levels in this study. Post-operative complications were also recorded. RESULTS: The mean loss of the femoral neck-shaft angle (FNSA) was significantly smaller in Group C1 than that in Group C2. There were significant differences in the sliding distance of the cephalic nail and the loss of femoral head height between the two groups. In terms of the reduction conditions shown on the sagittal planes, the FNSA, sliding distance of the cephalic nail, and the loss of FHH were significantly different, although differences in TCD were not significant. Patients in groups C1 (3.6%) and S1 (0.0%) had lower complication rates compared to patients in groups C2 (26.7%) and S2 (27.8%). CONCLUSION: Patients with good reduction quality of the medial and anteromedial sustainable cortices had better clinical outcomes and lower complication rates. The sustainable stability and anti-rotational function of these validated reductions might play a critical role in maintaining the fragment positions and reducing the incidence of complications in patients.

Internal Rotation Traction Radiograph Improves Proximal Femoral Fracture Classification Accuracy and Agreement.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess the clinical utility of internal rotation traction radiography in the classification of proximal femoral fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study cohort included 78 consecutive patients who were surgically treated for a proximal femoral fracture and for whom preoperative physician-assisted internal rotation traction radiographs of the fractured hip were obtained in addition to standard radiographs. Two radiologists who were blinded to clinical information independently classified each fracture without the traction view and then with the traction view. The radiologists also reported their confidence (expressed as a percentage) in their classifications. The reference standard was the consensus interpretation of intraoperative C-arm fluoroscopic images by two orthopedic surgeons and one radiologist. Classification accuracy was compared using the McNemar test. Subjective confidence and confidence-weighted accuracy were compare using paired t tests. Agreement with the reference standard and interreader agreement were calculated using the kappa statistic and were compared using the z-test after bootstrapping was performed to obtain the standard error. RESULTS: With the traction view, the pooled accuracy increased from 44.9% to 72.4%, subjective confidence increased from 87% to 94%, and confidence-weighted accuracy increased from 51.7% to 74.3% (p < 0.001). With the traction view, the kappa statistic for agreement with the reference standard increased from 0.530 to 0.791 and from 0.381 to 0.625 for the two readers, and interreader agreement increased from 0.480 to 0.678 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The addition of an internal rotation traction radiographic view significantly improves radiologist accuracy and confidence as well as interreader agreement in the classification of proximal femoral fractures, all of which would be expected to best guide appropriate surgical management.

Evaluation of inter- and intra-observer reliability of current classification systems for subtrochanteric femoral fractures.

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the inter- and intra-observer reliability of the Russell Taylor, Seinsheimer and AO classification systems, and to investigate whether or not the experience of the surgeon had any effect on the classification. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All the radiographs of 35 patients with subtrochanteric femur fracture were classified by 16 observers using the Russell Taylor, Seinsheimer and 31-AO classifications. Two groups of observers were formed of eight orthopedic surgeons, each with at least five-year experience and eight orthopedic assistants, from six different hospitals, who were invited to participate in the study. All the observers reviewed all the X-rays at this first evaluation. At 6 weeks after the first evaluation, the same radiographs were presented to each observer again in a random order and all the observers were requested to classify the fractures again. To evaluate the inter- and intra-observer reliability, the Fleiss kappa and Cohen's kappa values were used. RESULTS: In the inter-observer reliability, the mean values of the two evaluations for the Russell Taylor classification were determined to be κ:0.724 (substantial) for the specialists and κ:0.722 (substantial) for the assistants. Using the Seinsheimer classification, the mean values were κ:0.691 (substantial) for the specialists and κ:0.629 (substantial) for the assistants, and for the AO classification, the mean values were κ:0.279 (fair) for the specialists and κ:0.291 (fair) for the assistants. In the intra-observer reliability, the median values for the Russell Taylor classification were determined to be κ:0.955 (almost perfect) for the specialists and κ:0.855 (almost perfect) for the assistants. Using the Seinsheimer classification, the median values were κ:0.915 (almost perfect) for the specialists and κ:0.900 (almost perfect) for the assistants, and for the AO classification, the median values were κ:0.665 (substantial) for the specialists and κ:0.695 (substantial) for the assistants. CONCLUSIONS: As both the Russell Taylor and Seinsheimer classifications were found to be more reliable and reproducible than the AO classification for subtrochanteric femoral fractures, they can be considered to be more valuable in clinical practice and communication. The experience of the surgeons was not found to have any significance in the evaluation of these three classification systems in these types of fractures.

Association of femoral head and acetabular fractures on computerized tomography: correlation with the Judet-Letournel classification.

PURPOSE: Tha aims of this study were to identify the incidence of femoral head fractures in the setting of acetabular fractures and to determine the relationship between acetabular fracture pattern, the degree of acetabular fracture displacement, and the incidence of femoral head fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of 274 patients with 300 acetabular fractures diagnosed on pelvic CT. Acetabular fractures were categorized using the Judet-Letournel classification system. RESULTS: Femoral head fractures were present in 18.0% of acetabular fractures. Fracture patterns with a posterior wall component had a very high (56.3%) incidence of femoral head fracture. Anterior column and anterior column with posterior hemitransverse fractures have a very low (3.4%) incidence of femoral head fracture. Anterior hip dislocation had a 66.7% incidence of femoral head fracture, while posterior dislocation had a 71.9% incidence. Acetabular fractures displaced by more than 5 mm had a 26.9% incidence of femoral head fracture, while acetabular fracture displaced less than 5 mm had only 4.2% incidence of femoral head fracture. CONCLUSION: Femoral head fractures are a very common associated finding in patients presenting with acetabular fractures. In patients with a posterior wall component of the fracture or associated hip dislocation, a femoral head fracture is more likely than not present. Conversely, in acetabular fractures with less than 5 mm displacement or anterior column fractures without posterior acetabular involvement, femoral head fractures are very unlikely in the absence of a dislocation event.

Hip fractures in the elderly-: A Clinical Anatomy Review.

As elderly populations rise worldwide, the amount of hip fractures have continued to increase and result in substantial medical burdens in many countries. This increase goes hand-in-hand with an increase in surgical procedures to correct hip fractures. The medical burden imparted by hip fractures and their corrective surgeries necessitate a clinically relevant understanding of the hip joint including the vascular, neural, and musculoskeletal structures directly associated with and neighboring the joint. It is critical to appreciate how the normal hip anatomy is disrupted by a fracture and how this disruption is heavily influenced by the fracture's location. The effects of advancing age on the integrity of the hip joint and the risk of hip fractures further complicate hip anatomy. Consequentially, normal hip anatomy, aging and the pathology introduced by fractures play major roles in how hip fractures are approached surgically. This article aims to review the clinically relevant anatomy of the healthy hip joint, age-related changes that influence the joint, hip fractures, and corrective surgeries for hip fractures. Clin. Anat. 30:89-97, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinical Prediction Rule for Declines in Activities of Daily Living at 6 Months After Surgery for Hip Fracture Repair.

OBJECTIVES: To develop and assess a clinical prediction rule (CPR) to predict declines in activities of daily living (ADL) at 6 months after surgery for hip fracture repair. DESIGN: Prospective, cohort study. SETTING: From hospital to home. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=104) with hip fractures after surgery. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: ADL were assessed using the Barthel Index at 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: At 6 months after surgery, 86 patients (82.6%) were known to be alive, 1 patient (1.0%) had died, and 17 (16.3%) were lost to follow-up. Thirty-two patients (37.2%) did not recover their ADL at 6 months after surgery to levels before fracture. The classification and regression trees methodology was used to develop 2 models to predict a decline in ADL: (1) model 1 included age, type of fracture, and care level before fracture (sensitivity=75.0%, specificity=81.5%, positive predictive value=70.6%, positive likelihood ratio=4.050); and (2) model 2 included the degree of independence 2 weeks postsurgery for ADL chair transfer, ADL ambulation, and age (sensitivity=65.6%, specificity=87.0%, positive predictive value=75.0%, positive likelihood ratio=5.063). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of both CPR models were .825 (95% confidential interval, .728-.923) and .790 (95% confidence interval, .683-.897), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CPRs with moderate accuracy were developed to predict declines in ADL at 6 months after surgery for hip fracture repair.

The value of CT compared to radiographs in the classification and treatment plan of trochanteric fractures.

INTRODUCTION: The clinical relevance of classification for trochanteric fractures is limited and little agreement exists on what type of implant should be used. It is unknown whether more advanced radio-diagnostics, such as CT, result in better agreement on the treatment. We assessed the effect of CT on agreement of classification and subsequent treatment for trochanteric fractures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eleven observers (five radiologists, four trauma surgeons and two orthopedic residents) assessed 30 radiographs and CTs of trochanteric fractures. Each rating included an assessment according to the AO classification and of the preferred type of implant. The inter-observer agreement of the AO classification and on the choice of implant was calculated. RESULTS: The inter-observer agreement was κ0.70 (SE 0.03) for radiographic assessment of the main groups of the AO classification and κ0.68 (SE 0.03) for CT assessment. The agreement on choice of implant was κ0.63 (SE 0.05) if the choice was made with radiographs and κ0.69 (SE 0.05) with CTs. Six out of the 13 fractures were classified differently after assessment of the CT. Most corrections in choice of implant occurred for the assessment of A3 fractures. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that trochanteric fractures can be reliably classified on both radiographs and CT, according to the main groups of the AO classification. The implementation of CT for trochanteric fractures does not lead to higher agreement on fracture classification or choice of treatment. Therefore, the clinical relevance of CT for classification of trochanteric fractures seems low. For specific subgroups such as A3 fractures, CT may be of value for adequate fracture classification and subsequent treatment strategies.

Comparing the Intramedullary Nailing Method Versus Dynamic Hip Screw in Treatment of Unstable Intertrochanteric Fractures.

INTRODUCTION: Dynamic Hip Screw fixation is currently considered as a standard treatment for pre-trochanteric fractures; however, due to the long-term hospitalization and some other complications, some researchers have proposed intramedullary nailing as the alternative surgical treatment. The aim of this study was to compare and examine the consequences of the using intramedullary nailing method versus Dynamic Hip Screw. METHODS: In this study 114 patients with unstable Intertrochanteric fracture refer to Rasoul Akram hospital during 2011 to 2013 has been selected. After reduction, fixation surgery with PFN nail (60 patients) and Dynamic Hip Screw (54 patients) has been performed. All patients were screen during surgery and six months after surgery and some parameters like, bleeding, union, as well as complications such as collapse, varus and medialization of the distal fragment were record and patients. RESULTS: About some parameters like cutting length, surgery duration, bleeding there were significant differences between two groups. In six months follow up period 2 patinas from nail and 8 patients from DHS group had non-union. Also from the point of radiologic and clinical parameters, like anterior thigh pain, cut out, medialization of the distal fragment, collapse of the neck, walking recovery and daily activities were significant between two groups. CONCLUSION: Due to the reduced hospital stay in intramedullary nailing method and the necessity of doing repeated surgery and applying intramedullary nailing when the patients are not treated with external fixation, the researchers recommend intramedullary nailing as the first option in treating such patients.

Proximal Femoral Fractures: What the Orthopedic Surgeon Wants to Know.

Each year, more than 250,000 hip fractures occur in the United States, resulting in considerable patient mortality and morbidity. The various types of adult proximal femoral fractures require different treatment strategies that depend on a variety of considerations, including the location, morphologic features, injury mechanism, and stability of the fracture, as well as the patient's age and baseline functional status. The authors discuss femoral head, femoral neck, intertrochanteric, and subtrochanteric fractures in terms of injury mechanisms, specific anatomic and biomechanical features, and important diagnostic and management considerations, including the diagnostic utility of imaging modalities. The authors review clinically important classification systems, such as the Pipkin, Garden, Pauwels, and Evans-Jensen classification systems, with emphasis on differentiating subchondral insufficiency fractures from avascular necrosis of the femoral head and typical subtrochanteric fractures from atypical (often bisphosphonate-related) subtrochanteric fractures. In addition, the authors describe the potential complications and management strategies for each fracture type on the basis of the patient's age and physical condition. A clear understanding of these considerations allows the radiologist to better provide appropriate and relevant diagnostic information and management guidance to the orthopedic surgeon.

Current practice in the treatment of AO type 31-A2 hip fractures: does sub-specialty and experience of surgeon determine type of fixation?

BACKGROUND: Debate surrounds the optimal treatment of AO type 31-A2 fractures of the hip. Two principal treatment modalities are the compression hip screw (CHS) and cephallomedullary device (CMD). The use of CMD's is steadily increasing, for fixation of this fracture type, despite a lack of supportive evidence. METHODS AND MATERIALS: 100 trauma consultants were asked for their opinion towards treatment of an AO type 31-A2 fracture. Subspecialty and length of time in post were also recorded. RESULTS: A significant proportion of consultants opted to use a CMD. Consultants who had been in post for a shorter time, and those in specialties other than lower limb were more likely to use a CMD. DISCUSSION: NICE guidelines suggest CHS for AO type 31-A2 fractures. CONCLUSION: CMD accounts for a large percentage of treatment in our study, despite NICE guidelines, and other studies suggest their use is rising. We suggest there is a trend of less experienced consultants, and consultants whose specialties are those other than lower limb, using CMD more often. This may be creating an increased cost burden to the NHS, with no evidence to support their use.