Comminuted intertrochanteric fracture is usually treated by surgery, and the fracture healing time is about 3 months after surgery, and the time to return to daily life through postoperative functional exercises is about 6 months after surgery. However, there is individual variability, and the time for fracture healing and return to normal life will be different.
When a fracture is sustained, the hematoma at the fracture site will form granulation tissue and then fibrous connective tissue. The fibrous tissue proliferates and calcifies together with the osteoblasts of the endosteum and periosteum to form a bone scab, which takes about 8 weeks. It takes about 3 months for the fracture to reattach to the bone and for the bone marrow cavity to reattach as the bone trabeculae in the scab continue to grow.
Therefore, healing of the fracture usually takes about 3 months. However, if the fracture is highly comminuted or if the patient has osteoporosis, the healing time will be prolonged, and there may even be bone nonunion or non-union of the fracture.
Patients need to perform functional exercises after surgery. Due to the early instability of the fracture, they need to stay in bed, and can start to move around on the ground with the aid of crutches only after 6 weeks.
With the further healing of the fracture, you can gradually remove the crutches and increase the weight bearing of the affected limb. Generally speaking, it takes about 3 months for the patient to be completely off crutches, but it takes half a year for the patient to return to normal life. However, in some cases, due to poor fracture healing or poor pain tolerance, patients do not cooperate with the functional exercise, the time to return to normal life will be delayed.
The healing time of comminuted intertrochanteric fracture varies from person to person. After surgery, patients should undergo regular checkups and actively complete rehabilitation training under the guidance of physicians.