Measuring bone speed of sound in patients with hip fractures: a comparison with pathological examination

The aim of this multicenter prospective study is to compare and find a relation between bone strength evaluated by an ultrasound examination (bone speed of sound) and pathological quantitative bone mass measurements, in patients requiring hip replacement due to femoral neck fractures. The study included 93 patients who underwent a bone ultrasound examination to assess bone strength, as well as a pathological quantitative bone mass evaluation of the excised femoral head. Statistically significant correlations were found between the ultrasound results performed at three different sites, between the patient's age and the ultrasound examination results, and between the patient's age and the pathological examination results of the bone strength. We found no statistically significant correlation between the ultrasound examination results in any of the three locations and the pathological results. Therefore, conclusions cannot be made with respect to the efficacy and reliability of the ultrasound examination in predicting bone strength. However, the study can be used as a learning tool for future studies, by trying to overcome the obstacles found in the present study that have most likely lead to the negative results.