[Current therapy options for fractures of the femoral head]

Pipkin fractures: fracture type-specific management

Femoral head fractures are rare, which limits the experience of individual surgeons with these injuries. This overview examines historical data, injury mechanisms, and classification systems, as well as epidemiological data from larger patient cohorts. Significant controversies persist regarding the optimal surgical approach and fracture-type-specific treatment for Pipkin fractures. The literature is often inconsistent, as many studies fail to differentiate between specific fracture types and instead report aggregated results, leading to ambiguous conclusions about the most effective treatment strategies. Thus, this article reviews fracture-type-specific outcomes of both non-operative and operative treatments over the past 25 years and summarizes their clinical implications, with the aim of assisting surgeons in their decision-making processes.

Management and outcome of patients with femoral head fractures: the mid-term follow-up with injuries and associated prognostic factors

BACKGROUND

Femoral head fractures are rare injuries often associated with poor functional outcomes and complications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence, treatment methods and approaches, complications, and functional outcomes of femoral head fractures.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 50 patients who sustained femoral head fractures between January 2011 and December 2018. There were thirty-seven (74%) males and thirteen (26%) females with a median age of 40 years. According to Pipkin's classification, there were eighteen (36%) Pipkin I, ten (20%) Pipkin II, eight (16%) Pipkin III, and fourteen (28%) Pipkin IV patients. Treatment methods were categorized into non-operative, operative by open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), and immediate total hip replacement (THR). The recorded surgical approach consists of an anterior(S-P) approach, posterior(K-L) approach, lateral stab, and combined anterior + lateral stab approach for fixation. The patients were also stratified by the Injury Severity Score (ISS), associated injuries, and, mechanism of injuries. The modified harris hip score (MHHS) was used to evaluate the ongoing complications with the clinical outcome of patients with two years or greater follow-up.

RESULTS

Eight (16%) patients were managed successfully with closed reduction without surgery and thirty-seven (74%) patients required operative reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of the femoral head and acetabulum, and 5 (10%) patients required immediate THR. Six (12%) patients developed AVN, and four (8%) required a secondary THR. Sixteen patients (33%) developed post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), eight (16%) developed heterotopic ossification (HO) and six patients (12%) had sciatic nerve injury, none requiring operative treatment. Overall functional results according to MHHS were, excellent in two (4%) patients, good in sixteen (32%) patients, fair in twenty-two (44%) patients, and poor in ten (20%) patients. A statistically significant difference in outcome was observed among four pipkin subtypes.

CONCLUSION

Femoral head fractures are rare injuries often associated with poor outcomes. In this study, we report the functional outcomes and complications of all treatment approaches for femoral head fracture based on the Pipkin classification. The treatment aim should always be the anatomical reduction of the fragments. This study, adds to the growing literature on femoral head fracture and provides a reference for the clinical treatment to guide patient management.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Our study was approved by the Clinical Research and Biomedical Ethical Committee of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, and was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided written informed consent to participate in this study.

Ipsilateral Posterior Cruciate Ligament Insertion Avulsion and Femoral Head Fracture Without Dislocation: A Rarest of Rare Dashboard Injury and Principles of Management: A Case Report

CASE

A 25-year-old man presented with posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) avulsion and ipsilateral fracture of the femoral head after sustaining a dashboard injury. The hip was not dislocated on presentation, and there were no other injuries; he was managed operatively for both. His hip and knee healed well, with good functioning at 15 months of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

Dashboard injuries can cause simultaneous knee and hip injuries, usually PCL and posterior hip dislocation. This case report identifies a specific pattern of tibial avulsion fracture of the PCL combined with femoral head fracture with no dislocation at presentation. The good outcome achieved at 15 months indicates that standard treatment of open reduction and internal fixation for both fractures can provide good clinical results in this severe combination injury pattern.

Middle-term follow-up results of Pipkin type IV femoral head fracture patients treated by reconstruction plate and bioabsorbable screws

PURPOSE

To investigate the mid-term curative effects of the treatment of Pipkin type IV femoral head fractures using a reconstruction plate and bioabsorbable screws and provide the evidence for clinical practice.

METHODS

From February 2010 to September 2014, 21 patients with Pipkin type IV femoral head fractures were treated surgically. There were 13 males and 8 females with an average age of 41.1 years (range, 20-65 years). The causes of the fractures included traffic accidents (13 cases), falls from a height (four cases), heavy lifting injuries (three cases), and sport injury (one case). All patients were followed up with radiography and three-dimensional reconstruction computed tomography and other checks and any complications were actively managed. Closed reduction of fracture-dislocation of the hip was attempted under general anesthesia using the Kocher-Langenbeck approach. Femoral head fractures were treated with internal fixation or excision based on the size of the fracture fragments, whereas acetabular fractures were fixed with a reconstruction plate and screws following anatomic reduction.

RESULTS

The incisions healed by primary intention in all patients after surgery, without any infection, deep venous thrombosis, or other complications. All 21 patients were followed up for 36-76 months, with an average follow-up duration of 49 months. Postoperative imaging data showed that all dislocations and fractures were anatomically reduced, and bony union of the fractures was achieved. Heterotopic ossification was found in four patients, post-traumatic osteoarthritis in three, and avascular necrosis of the femoral head in two. At the final follow-up, the assessment of hip joint function according to the Thompson-Epstein scoring scale was excellent in 10 cases, good in six cases, fair in three cases, and poor in two cases. The rate of excellent and good functional outcomes was 76.1%.

CONCLUSION

The mid-term curative effects of a reconstruction plate and bioabsorbable screws in the treatment of Pipkin type IV femoral head fractures is significant, and such the treatment can significantly improve the patient's joint function and quality of life.

Clinical results of femoral head fracture-dislocation treated according to the Pipkin classification

Objective:

To summarize the clinical results of femoral head fracture-dislocation treated according to Pipkin classification.

Methods:

Atotal of 19 patients with femoral head fracture-dislocation were retrospectively analyzed from Mar. 2008 to Mar. 2015. According to the classification of Pipkin criteria, there were 4 cases in Type-I, 6 cases in Type-II, 6 cases in Type-IIIand 3 cases in Type-IV. Various procedures were taken according to the different types of the fracture, the time of the fracture, and the age of the patients. X-ray was examined during the follow-up period and functional evaluation was carried out by Harris Hip Score’s criteria. The clinical therapeutic effects were analyzed.

Results:

All the patientsgot a mean follow-up of 18 months (9-36 months). No patient suffered from infection, skin flap necrosis and X-ray showed no implants loosening or breakage. According to the Harris Hip Score’s criteria, in Type-I, 4 cases were rated as excellent. In Type-II, 2 cases rated as excellent, 3 cases as good and 1 case as fair. In Type-III, 3 cases rated as good, 2 cases as fair and 1 case as poor. In Type-IV, 1 case rated as excellent, 1 case as good and 1 case as fair. The overall rate of excellent and good was 73.7%.

Conclusions:

Pipkin classification is helpful to make preoperative plan and judging the prognosis in cases of femoral head fracture-dislocation. However, multiple factors such as the time from injury to surgery, the ages of patients, the selection of implants should also be considered, which may affect the clinical results.