INTRACAPSULAR FRACTURES OF THE NECK OF THE FEMUR

Inherently we, as traumatic surgeons, recognize that in the management of intracapsular fractures of the neck of the femur we are circumstanced by two major problems not encountered in any other fracture: the age incidence and the structural incidence. First, the age incidence, because the vast majority of patients are in or beyond the fifth decade. Shaft fractures of the upper extremities and some of the lower extremities in this age group do not dismay us, because the enforced recumbency is less absolute and less prolonged. We long have recognized the need for early mobilization in all types of fractures, especially in the articular group. Yet, despite this clinical edict, we have continued to immobilize hip fractures, thus disregarding the lessons learned and practiced in other joint fractures. Further, in hip fractures, as in no others, immobilization induces local and general stasis in the joint with the poorest local circulation