Proximal femoral nail antirotation against dynamic hip screw for unstable trochanteric fractures; a prospective randomized comparison.

AIM: We sought to determine whether intramedullary fixation with proximal femoral nail antirotation produces comparable outcomes to dynamic hip screw in the treatment of unstable trochanteric fractures.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were randomly allocated to receive proximal femoral nail antirotation (Group 1, n = 96, mean age; 77.22 ± 6.82 years) or dynamic hip screw (Group 2, n = 102, mean age; 76.86 ± 6.74 years). Outcome measures were time of operation and fluoroscopy, amount of blood loss and occurrence of surgery-related complications. Tip-apex distance and femoral neck shortening were also evaluated. Patients were evaluated at the sixth month to assess the recovery of walking ability. Survival information was obtained from a civil registry.

RESULTS: Operative and fluoroscopy times were significantly shorter and blood loss was significantly lower in Group 1 than those in Group 2. Complication rates, mean tip-apex indices and recovery of walking ability were similar between groups, whereas independent walking was more common in Group 1 than in Group 2. Until the sixth month, screw cutout occurred in eight (7.8%) and seven (7.3%) patients in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively (p = 0.88). Three-year survival rate was 61.6 ± 9.4 vs 57.3 ± 9.7 % in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively (p = 0.50).

CONCLUSION: Proximal femoral nail antirotation technique offers better recovery than dynamic hip screw, whereas both techniques possess the same risk of postoperative complications.