TUESDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Patients face a high risk of mortality in the year after surgery for a periprosthetic femoral fracture -- similar to the risk following treatment for a hip fracture, according to research published in the December issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

Timothy Bhattacharyya, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 106 patients who had surgery for a periprosthetic femoral fracture. They were matched with 309 postsurgery hip fracture patients and 311 patients who had had primary hip or knee replacement.

The one-year mortality rates were similar between the periprosthetic fracture patients (11 percent) and the hip fracture patients (16.5 percent), and were significantly higher compared to the joint replacement patients (2.9 percent). Significantly more patients with Vancouver type-B periprosthetic fracture died after open reduction and internal fixation (33 percent) compared to treatment with revision arthroplasty (12 percent). In these cases, when either treatment is feasible, the latter may be the preferable option, the researchers write.

"The increasing use of primary joint replacements and the increase in the age of the population will likely lead to an increased rate of periprosthetic fractures. Between 2002 and 2006, we observed a 216 percent increase (from 12 to 38) in the number of patients presenting with a periprosthetic fracture. Orthopaedic surgeons need to be increasingly familiar with the treatment of periprosthetic fractures, and implants need to be readily available," the authors write.

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)