A femoral neck fracture is the most common fracture of the femur. It is also known as a femoral neck fracture or femoral neck fracture. It mainly affects older people, especially women. Most of those affected also suffer from osteoporosis. A femoral neck fracture is a serious injury, but nowadays hardly anyone dies as a result.
Below you will find further information and selected femoral neck fracture specialists.
Almost 100,000 people suffered a fractured neck of femur in 2007. Most of them had to undergo surgery.
More than 45 percent of these patients were over 80 years old, and the majority were women. This clearly shows that a femoral neck fracture is a typical injury for older people, especially older women.
Fifty years ago, a femoral neck fracture in an elderly person almost always led to bedriddenness and soon afterwards to death. In the meantime, the situation has changed in favor of patients. Today, surgical methods are available that can usually prevent bedriddenness.
A femoral neck fracture is usually the result of a fall. Very often, those affected suffer from osteoporosis, a disease that makes bones more porous and therefore less stable. This is also known as bone atrophy.
Osteoporosis mainly occurs in old age, and women are significantly more frequently affected than men. The bones of people with osteoporosis break much faster than healthy bones. This is why even a slight fall is often enough to lead to a femoral neck fracture.
The symptoms of a femoral neck fracture include pain in the hip and groin area. Those affected can no longer put any weight on their hip.
The affected leg appears shorter than the other and is rotated outwards (external rotation deformity).
After the fall and the diagnosis of a femoral neck fracture, the patient should undergo surgery as soon as possible.
Most patients then receive an artificial hip joint, a hip endoprosthesis. This hip prosthesis allows them to get out of bed immediately after the operation and put full weight on the previously injured leg again. Initially, the patient needs crutches.
The hospital stay is usually short, with patients spending around 2 weeks in hospital. This is followed by physiotherapy treatment.
A femoral neck fracture mainly affects older women © Henrie | AdobeStock
Patients often undergo rehabilitation after hip joint surgery. This is why trauma surgeons and geriatricians work closely together in the care of older people. The aim of this collaboration is to enable patients to return to an independent life. Patients should return to the familiar surroundings of their own home as quickly as possible.
For example, an inpatient stay after a femoral neck fracture often ends in a gentle transition from hospital, e.g. in a geriatric day clinic. There, a slow transition to everyday life can be organized.
Even if there are no medical complications, 20 percent of patients still die in the first year after a femoral neck fracture. The reasons for this are not yet clear. The phenomenon is not only observed in Germany, but throughout Central and Western Europe and North America.
Doctors and health insurance companies are conducting intensive research into this issue.
Today, fractures of the neck of femur are still a serious injury. However, the trauma surgery and geriatric medical problems that it entails are manageable.
Hardly anyone dies in hospital as a result of a femoral neck fracture. Complications also rarely occur after surgery.
If osteoporosis is recognized early, deterioration can be prevented with
medication. In many cases, however, osteoporosis is not diagnosed until a femoral neck fracture or other fractures have already occurred.
A first-time tendency to fall due to dizziness must also be clarified immediately by the family doctor. This gives you the chance to reduce the frequency of falls, if possible.
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