Long-term outcome of patients with avascular necrosis, after internal fixation of femoral neck fractures

We retrospectively reviewed 84 patients who underwent internal fixation of an intracapsular femoral neck fracture. The mean age was 58 years and the time from injury to operative treatment was 5.3 days. The mean follow-up was 4.7 years (range, 2-8 years). At the latest follow-up, in the 46 patients with undisplaced (Garden I, II) fractures, nonunion occurred in two patients and avascular necrosis of the femoral head in nine. Six of these nine patients had a good or excellent result, one had a fair result, and two had a poor result. Of 35 patients with no sign of avascular necrosis, 32 patients had a good or excellent result, two a fair and one had a poor result. In the group of 38 patients with displaced (Garden III, IV) fractures, nonunion occurred in six patients and avascular necrosis of the femoral head in 15. Of these 15 patients, 10 had a good or excellent result, two had a fair result, and three had a poor result. Of 17 patients with no sign of avascular necrosis, 14 had an excellent result and three patients a poor result. Overall only five of the 24 patients who developed avascular necrosis of the femoral head had undergone total hip arthroplasty. Internal fixation remains a simple and safe, method of treatment for both undisplaced and displaced femoral neck fractures in middle-age patients. Despite the relatively high rate of avascular necrosis after internal fixation of femoral neck fractures, only a few of these patients (20%) required further surgical treatment in the follow-up period of this study. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.