Objective To evaluate the results of operative treatment of complex acetabular fractures and to investigate its influence factors. Methods From June 2000 to August 2006, 54 patients with complex acetabular fractures were treated, including 44 males and 10 females aged 20-75 years old (average 39.1 years old). Fractures were due to traffic accidentin 40 cases, fall ing from high places in 8 cases and crush by heavy objects in 6 cases. All cases were fresh and close fractures and the time from injury to operation was 5-72 days. There were 5 cases of posterior column and posterior wall fracture, 25 of transverse and posterior wall fracture, 2 of T-type fracture, and 22 of double column fracture. During operation, Kocker- Lagenbach approach was used in 23 cases, anterior il ioinguinal approach was appl ied for 3 cases and the combination of anterior and posterior approaches was performed on 28 cases. AO reconstructive plate and screw internal fixation were used in all the cases. Results Fifty-two cases were followed up for 12-74 months (average 31.3 months). Anatomical reduction was achieved in 23 cases, satisfactory reduction in 19 cases, poor reduction in 10 cases, and the excellent and good rate reached 80.77%. During operation, 1 case suffered from a tear in the external il iac vein and healed after vein repair; 2 cases had sciatic nerve injury and took mecobalamin as oral administration, one of them fully recovered, and the other had incomplete recovery at 18-month follow-up. At the final follow-up, there were 6 cases of severe heterotopic ossification, one of them received heterotopic bone resection and the rest 5 patients received conservative treatment; there were 9 cases of traumatic osteoarthritis, one of them received total hip replacement and the rest 8 patients received conservative treatment; there were 5 cases of avascular necrosis of the femoral head, two of them received total hip replacement, 1 received no further treatment because the femoral head didn’ t collapse, and the rest 2 patients gave up total hip replacement; 75.00% patients were graded as excellent and good according to the modified Merled’Aubigné-Postel hip score system. Patients’ qual ity of l ife was compared with local population normsmatched for age and sex by using SF-36 scales, their overall score were below the local population norms, and their general health, vital ity, role l imitation due to emotional problems and mental health were comparable to the local population norms. Logistic regression analysis revealed the time to reduce hip dislocation, qual ity of fracture reduction nd traumatic arthritis were independent risk factors affecting postoperative functional outcomes. Conclusion Applying open reduction and internal fixation in the treatment of displaced complex acetabular fractures has a satisfying therapeutic effect. Time to reduce hip dislocation, qual ity of fracture reduction as well as traumatic arthritis are independent risk factors affecting postoperative functional outcomes.
Objective To compare the effects of arthroplasty with that of intenal fixation for displaced femoral neck fractures in the elderly. Methods We searched for all randomized controlled trials and quasi-randomized controlled trials of hip arthroplasty versus internal fixation for displaced femoral neck fractures in the elderly by electronically searching MEDLINE( 1966 to September, 2006),EMbase(1966 to September, 2006), Cochrane Library( Issue 4 2006), CBM( up to September, 2006) and CNKI (September, 2006) and handsearching grey literatures. The quality of the trials was assessed and meta-analyses were conducted using The Cochrane Collaboration’s RevMan 4.2.8 software. The quality of the trials was assessed. And meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan4.2.8 software. Results A total of 228 papers were retrieved, but only 15 published randomized controlled trials involving a total of 2 254 patients were suitable for inclusion in the review. Based on the meta-analyses, hip arthroplasty showed obvious advantages over internal fixation in terms of the incidences of major complications after 2 years (RR 0.15 ; 95%CI 0.09 to 0.23) and after 5 years (RR 0.18 ; 95%CI 0.11 to 0.30) as well as re-operation rate (RR0.12 ; 95%CI 0.08 to 0.18) after 2 years, and after 5 years (RR0.11 ; 95%CI 0.06 to 0.22), there was an advantage to performing hip asthroplasty. After one year, the mortality was the same in both groups with RR 1.05 and 95%CI 0.89 to 1.23. Conclusion There is an evidence base to support arthroplasty as a treatment for displaced femoral neck fractures in the elderly. Arthroplasty can not only decrease the rate of re-operation, but can also reduce the incidence of complications, with similar one-year mortality when compared to internal fixation.