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Updated: Feb 9, 2026

Treatment with Locking Intramedullary Nailing for Intertrochanteric Fracture of the Femur Utilizing a New Awl with a Distal Positioner
Published on: June 6, 2025
Similar function and complications for patients with short versus long hip nailing for unstable pertrochanteric
Ioannis P Galanopoulos1, Andreas F Mavrogenis1, Panayiotis D Megaloikonomos1
1First Department of Orthopaedics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, ATTIKON University Hospital, Athens, Greece.
Purpose:
To compare short with long intramedullary hip nailing for elderly patients with unstable pertrochanteric fractures.
Methods:
We prospectively studied 50 patients (33 women, 17 men; mean age, 80 years; range, 74-93 years) with unstable pertrochanteric fractures admitted and treated with a short (group A) or a long (group B) intramedullary hip nail from January 2013 to 2017. The patients were randomly allocated into each group according to their order of admission. The mean follow-up was 2 years (range, 1-5 years). We evaluated operative time, function, fracture healing, varus/valgus loss of reduction, and distance between the distal line of the fracture and the distal locking screw of the nail.
Results:
Operative time was significantly shorter in group A. Function, fracture healing and varus/valgus loss of reduction was similar between the two groups. The mean distance between the distal fracture line and distal locking screw was 7.2 cm (range, 3-10 cm) in patients of group A; in all patients of group B, an appropriate nail length was chosen so that the distal locking screw was inserted at least 3 times the diameter of the bone at the distal fracture line. Complications included periprosthetic fracture (one patient of group A), and z-effect phenomenon (one patient of group B); complications rate was similar between the two groups.
Conclusion:
Short intramedullary hip nailing is associated with similar function and complications, but shorter operative time compared to long intramedullary hip nails for patients with unstable pertrochanteric fractures.
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