[Initial results with the AO Dynamic Hip Screw (DHS)]

The report is based on a follow-up of over 54 osteosyntheses employing the Dynamic Hip Screw (DHS) of the AO on the proximal femur. The patients, of an average age of 72 years, exhibited the following lesions: fractures of 7 femoral necks, 43 fractures in the pertrochanteric region, 3 reverse fractures and 1 subtrochanteric metastasis. An unstable fracture was present on 26 occasions. The follow-up, carried out personally, was done from 3 to 26 months postoperatively on 38 out of 40 patients still alive. The average age was 68 years. In not a single case was an implant failure or a protrusion of the screw into the joint observed. Technical faults were present in 4 cases (7.4%) that led in 1 case to an infection (1.85%). 37 patients (97%), of which 23 were between 70 and 90 years of age, were able to walk during the follow-up. 34 (89%) of the patients showed symmetrical, or less than 20 degrees of limited hip movement while 12 (32%) sporadically complained of slight pain or weather dependency. 2 of the 7 patients with femoral neck fractures and 4 of the remaining 47 patients with trochanteric fractures (including 1 subtrochanteric metastasis) had to be reoperated. The DHS proved to be a simple and efficient fixation device for proximal femoral fractures in the hands of ten different surgeons. The telescopic sliding of the screw enables a compulsory sintering of the fracture, without leading to penetration of the femoral head or breakage of the implant.