Unstable intertrochanteric fractures of the hip. Treatment with Ender pins compared with a compression hip-screw

In a prospective, consecutive, randomized study of the treatment of unstable intertrochanteric fractures of the hip, the use of Ender pins was compared with the use of the compression hip-screw. There were more than 100 patients in each treatment group. The patients who were alive six months postoperatively were evaluated. The number of secondary operations was much higher in the patients who were treated with Ender pins, and a considerably higher number of those patients had loss of fixation. The use of Ender pins that were too long and a history of a fracture before the operation in which Ender pins were used were statistically significant predictors of secondary operations.