treatment of femoral neck fractures in the physically active elderly, is still an open question. The comparison of total replacement and partial hip replacement showed substantial superiority of the first approach than the latter. We can not disregard the problems that THR can lead in the elderly: more surgical time, greater blood loss, major sacrifice of bone in osteoporotic subjects. The Tribofit® acetabular system, has the objective to overcome these problems with the implantation of a single 3mm soft, pliable buffer made of polycarbonate-urethane between the large diameter metal femoral head and the subchondral bone, thus replacing the articular cartilage. The surgical technique includes the reaming of the cartilage layer, the creation of a circumferential groove and the snap-fit insertion of the buffer. The purpose of the prospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in the treatment of femoral neck fractures in the elderly. from September 2008 to July 2010 we performed 45 implants with the Tribofit® Acetabular Buffer (Active Implants®, Memphis TN, USA). The inclusion criteria for the study were: femoral neck fracture patients over 75 years of age, physically independent before the injury, with good life expectancy, mild or absent arthritis, absence of morphological alterations of the acetabulum. The average age of these patients was 81,2 (75–89), the sex distribution was 36 females and 9 males, with 22 fractures of the left hip and 23 of the right. In all cases an uncemented straight femoral stem was implanted. We recorded per-operative blood loss and intra-per-operative problems encountered. Follow-up were performed at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months post-op with radiographic control and clinical examination. The clinical outcome was objectively measured by the Harris Hip Score, pain Visual Analogue Scale and SF-36 questionnaire.Introduction
Materials and Methods
