COMPARISON OF THE COMPRESSION HIP SCREW WITH THE MEDOFF SLIDING PLATEFOR INTERTROCHANTERIC FRACTURES

The Medoff sliding plate was designed to achieve compression along the femoral neck and the longitudinal axis of the femoral shaft theoretic ally to improve the treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures, The Medoff sliding plate was compared with a standard compression hip scre w in a randomized, prospective study for the fixation of 160 stable an d unstable intertrochanteric fractures with an average followup of 9.5 months (range, 6-26 months), Overall, 91 fractures were treated using the compression hip screw and 69 were treated with the Medoff sliding plate, Stable fracture patterns (46) united without complication in b oth treatment groups, Unstable fractures (114) had an overall failure rate of 9.6%, 14% (nine patients) with the compression hip screw and 3 % (two patients) with the Medoff plate; this difference was significan tly different, The time to union for the 114 unstable fractures was no t significantly different between the two devices, For all patients, n o differences in lengths of hospitalization, return to ambulatory stat us before fracture, postoperative living status, or postoperative pain was observed between the two device groups, Use of the Medoff plate f or all fracture types was associated with a significantly higher amoun t of blood loss and operating time.