Hip fractures affect annually over 350,000 people in the USA and over 1.6 million worldwide. About 50% of these numbers are intertrochanteric fractures, The surgeon should be able to minimize the morbidity associated with the fracture by: recognizing the fracture pattern, choosing the appropriate fixation device, performing accurate reductions with ideal implant placement and being conscious of implant costs. In this study we assessed the ability of the orthopaedic surgeons to recognize fractures pattern, and choosing the ideal implant for the recognized fracture. We assessed 134 orthopaedic surgeons with questionnaires that assessed 14 different intertrochanteric femoral fractures. We evaluated the fractures as stable or unstable. We chose for each fracture the appropriate fixation device: either a Dynamic Hip Screw (for stable fractures) or an Intra Medullary Nail (for unstable ones), taking into consideration fracture's stability and implants’ costs. We compared the answers of the assessed surgeons to ours.Background
Methods
