[Atypical femoral fractures in long-term osteoporotic treatment with bisphosphonates]

Recently, atypical femoral fractures, especially at the proximal part, were reported in the literature. Most of the reports discussed the relationship between those atypical fractures and chronic use of bisphosphonate drugs as prophylactic treatment for osteoporosis. As a result, the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) published a statement on October 2010, which was the conclusion of a multidisciplinary working group. The FDA decided to add warnings for every bisphosphonate drug which was given as prophylactic treatment for osteoporosis in the USA. In this review, we will present the bisphosphonate drugs, the presenting symptoms of patients who suffer from the pathologic fracture, the radiologic characteristics and the surgical treatment. We will present the work of a Task Force of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and the FDA statements.