Bone mineral mass in hip fracture patients

The aims of this study were to measure the bone mineral density (BMD) and some anthropometric variables in patients with hip fracture, to compare these data with those from controls, and to compare the fractured and unfractured hip. Bone mineral measurements with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) were undertaken in 93 consecutive hip fracture patients, 26 men and 67 women, with a mean age of 75 and 78 years, respectively, within 10 days after injury. We found lower BMD in most measurements in both men and women compared with age- and sex-matched controls. The body weight and lean body mass were also significantly lower in the male hip fracture patients; in women only weight was lower. In women there was lower BMD in spine and hip in those who had sustained trochanteric hip fractures compared with those with cervical fracture. No such difference was found in men. There was no difference in BMD in the hip when patients with stable and unstable fractures were compared. In the fractured and nonfractured hips we measured BMD in regions of interest. In women with trochanteric hip fractures the BMD was decreased in the fractured hip compared with the uninjured. No such difference was found for cervical fractures or in men.