Embargoed for A.M. Release, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000
For more information, contact: Paula Poda, (847) 384-4034, [email protected]Joanne Swanson, (847) 384-4035, [email protected]
Orthopaedic surgeon announces new minimally-invasive hip fracture repair method
NEW YORK--A new surgical technique to repair some hip fractures requires smaller incisions, less blood loss and a shorter hospital stay, a new study shows.
"A new procedure which utilizes a compression plate with two 9-millimeter telescoping neck screws through two 2-centimeter incisions is minimally-invasive with minimal soft tissue dissection and less than 100 cc blood loss," Robert D. D'Ambrosia, MD, said here today at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' 10th annual Orthopaedics Update.
"The method is effective in older people whose bones are fragile," reported Dr. D'Ambrosia, 1999 Academy president and professor and chief of orthopaedic surgery at Louisiana State University (LSU), New Orleans. "By restoring normal anatomy, the procedure usually enables the patient to weight bear immediately."
Surgeons at Louisiana State University School of Medicine have performed the new procedure on 12 hip fracture patients.
"This surgery requires a shorter hospital stay, compared to traditional methods," said Dr. D'Ambrosia. "In Israel, Dr. Godfried performed the procedure on 97 hip fracture patients: 73 were female; 24 were male."
The mean age of the study participants was 80.3 years. A total of 80 patients (81 fractures) were available for follow-up. Six months after surgery, 20 of these patients were able to return to their pre-fracture activity levels, and 51 could do so with the use of a cane or crutch.
The remaining nine patients were transferred to a nursing facility. With support, six of these patients had mobility. The other three were not mobile but two of them had not been mobile before surgery. No fracture collapses have occurred in the LSU series or the Godfried series in Israel.
"With the aging population, the number of hip fractures is expected to increase substantially," Dr. D'Ambrosia said. "This new technique will benefit patients and the healthcare system because it is minimally invasive, causes minimal soft tissue dissection and inconsequential blood loss."
The 24,500-member American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons www.aaos.org is a not-for-profit organization that provides education programs for orthopaedic surgeons, allied health professionals and the public and is an advocate for improved patient care.
The Academy is participating in the Bone and Joint Decade (www.bonejointdecade.org), the global initiative in the years 2000-2010 to raise awareness of people's musculoskeletal health care needs.
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