Treatment of intertrochanteric fractures: comparison of Ender nails and sliding screw plates

The results of two fixation devices for the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures were compared in 220 patients--163 women and 57 men with a mean age of 81 +/- 10 years. One hundred and one patients were randomized to Ender nailing and 119 to fixation with a sliding screw plate (SSP). The two treatment groups were equal with respect to important preinjury variables. The two methods did not differ in operating time or perioperative blood loss. The proportions of good reduction of the fractures and of good positioning of the internal fixation devices were equal in the two groups. But the complication rate and the reoperation rate were more than twice as high in the Ender group than in the SSP group. The outcome at 1-year follow-up was approximately equal in the two groups.