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Screening for osteomalacia in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures
T J Wilton1, D J Hosking, E Pawley
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, England.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume
|November 1, 1987
Abstract:
In this study 201 elderly patients with femoral neck fractures were compared with 30 osteomalacic patients with the same injury. Hypocalcaemia and a raised alkaline phosphatase level are common biochemical abnormalities in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures. In only a minority of patients, however, were they associated with histologically proven osteomalacia. By using the combination of hypocalcaemia and a raised alkaline phosphatase it is possible to identify a subgroup (approximately 10% of all admissions) in whom osteomalacia is relatively likely.