Percutaneous osteosynthesis with two screws in treating femoral neck fractures

In a consecutive, retrospective study, 182 patients were followed 1 year after surgical treatment of a fractured femoral neck. The patients were admitted on alternate days to the neighboring departments of orthopedic surgery O and phi, respectively. In Department O, the patients were submitted to sliding screw-plate (SSP) osteosynthesis, while patients in Department phi were treated with two percutaneously introduced screws. Our results showed that double-screw osteosynthesis can be performed significantly quicker and with less blood loss than application of SSP. Healing of the fractures in the two groups did not differ significantly, nor did the cumulative rate of failure or the frequency of secondary surgical procedures. We find that, judged from these parameters, percutaneously introduced double-screw osteosynthesis is at least as effective as SSP osteosynthesis.