Femoral tendon fracture

Femoral neck fractures often occur in the elderly. The physical functions of the elderly gradually decline, especially the absorption of calcium. The calcium absorbed every day is not enough to meet the bone needs. At this time, osteoporosis often occurs. If you don’t pay attention in daily life, this kind of fracture is easy to occur. This brings great harm to the life and health of the elderly. Let us take a brief look at it.

Femoral tendon fracture

Femoral neck fractures often occur in the elderly. As people's life expectancy increases, the incidence rate is increasing. Especially with the aging of the population, it has become a serious social problem. There are two main problems in its clinical treatment: nonunion of fracture and avascular necrosis of femoral head. To date, there are still many unresolved issues in the treatment and outcome of femoral neck fractures.

Causes

There are two basic factors that cause fractures in the elderly: osteoporosis, which reduces bone strength, and the dense distribution of nutrient vascular holes in the upper area of ​​the femoral neck, both of which can weaken the biomechanical structure of the femoral neck and make the femoral neck fragile.

In addition, due to the degeneration of the hip muscles in the elderly and their slow reaction, they cannot effectively offset the harmful stress on the hip. In addition, the hip is subjected to greater stress (2 to 6 times body weight) and the local stress is complex and changeable. Therefore, fractures can occur without much violence, such as slipping on flat ground, falling off the bed, or sudden twisting of the lower limbs, or even without obvious trauma. Femoral neck fractures in young and middle-aged people are often caused by serious injuries such as car accidents or falls from heights. Fractures that occur gradually due to excessive and prolonged weight-bearing work or walking are called fatigue fractures.

Clinical manifestations

1. Symptoms

If an elderly person complains of hip pain and is unable to stand or walk after falling, the possibility of a femoral neck fracture should be considered.

2. Physical signs

(1) The deformed limbs often have mild hip flexion, knee flexion and external rotation deformities.

(2) In addition to spontaneous pain in the hip, the pain is more obvious when moving the affected limb. When the heel or greater trochanter of the affected limb is tapped, the hip also feels painful, and there is often tenderness below the midpoint of the inguinal ligament.

(3) Swelling: Femoral neck fractures are mostly intracapsular fractures. There is not much bleeding after the fracture, and the femoral neck is surrounded by thick muscles outside the joint. Therefore, local swelling is not easy to be seen from the outside.

(4) Functional impairment: Patients with displaced fractures cannot sit up or stand after the injury, but some patients with non-displaced linear fractures or impacted fractures can still walk or ride a bicycle after the injury. Special attention should be paid to these patients to avoid misdiagnosis and conversion of non-displaced stable fractures into displaced unstable fractures. In displaced fractures, the distal end is pulled upward by the muscles, causing the affected limb to become shorter.

(5) The elevation of the greater trochanter on the affected side is manifested in the following aspects: ① The greater trochanter is above the line connecting the iliac and ischial tuberosities; ② The horizontal distance between the greater trochanter and the anterior superior iliac spine is shortened and is shorter than that on the healthy side.