Background: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes, complications, and mortality of patients with intertrochanteric hip fracture treated with dynamic hip screw (DHS) vs. trochanteric fixation nail advance (TFNA).
Methods: We evaluated 152 patients with intertrochanteric fractures concerning age, sex, comorbidity, Charlson Index, preoperative gait, OTA/AO classification, time from fracture to surgery, blood loss, amount of blood replacement, changes in gait, full weight-bearing at hospital discharge, complications, and mortality. The final indicators encompassed the adverse effects linked to implants, postoperative complications, clinical healing or bone healing duration, and functional score.
Results: The study included a total of 152 patients, out of which 78 (51%) received DHS treatment and 74 (49%) received TFNA treatment. The results of this study show that the TFNA group demonstrated superiority (p < 0.001). However, it should be noted that the TFNA group had a higher frequency of the most unstable fractures (AO 31 A3, p < 0.005). Full weight-bearing at discharge also decreased in patients with more unstable fractures (p = 0.005) and severe dementia (p = 0.027). Mortality was higher in the DHS group; however, a longer time from diagnosis to surgery was also observed in this group (p < 0.005).
Conclusions: The TFNA group has shown a higher success rate in achieving full weight-bearing at hospital discharge when treating trochanteric hip fractures. This makes it the preferred choice for treating unstable fractures in this region of the hip. Additionally, it is important to note that a longer time to surgery is associated with increased mortality in patients with hip fractures.
Keywords: complications; hip fracture; surgery.