It’s All About the Fall – Hip Injuries

With the coming of winter, the incidence of hip injuries among middle-aged and elderly people is increasing, on the one hand, the road surface is easy to ice, a little attention may fall; on the other hand, it is due to osteoporosis of middle-aged and elderly people, and the low temperature in winter, the bones are also relatively fragile. So how to prevent and treat the injury and the care after the injury is especially important. Tian Hongtao, Department of Orthopaedics, Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital, Wuhan, China (I’ll explain a few terms that will appear later) Treatment: Hip dislocation: reset: can be performed under anesthesia, as far as possible, reset within 24 hours after the injury is completed. Immobilization, functional exercise: skin traction or wearing thong shoes for 2-3 weeks after reset for anterior and posterior dislocation, traction for 4-6 weeks for central dislocation in general. Neck of femur fracture & intertrochanteric fracture: Non-operative treatment: suitable for those who are too old, poor general condition, etc. cannot tolerate surgery. Wear anti-rotation shoes, lower limb traction for 6-8 weeks. During this period, do not lie on your side and do not retract the affected limb. Surgical treatment: internal fixation or artificial joint replacement (the specific type of surgery must be determined in the consultation). Post-operative recovery: During the period of bed rest: perform contractions of the quadriceps muscles (isometric contractions), and flexion and extension of the ankle and foot. After 2-3 weeks, start joint activities (not applicable to non-operative patients with femoral neck & intertrochanteric fracture): Hip extension and flexion exercise method: lie on your back, stretch the joint, hold the lower end of the femur with your hands with crossed fingers and palms together, and use repeated elbow flexion to pull upward in conjunction with active hip flexion activities for 5-10 minutes, with the number of times gradually increasing. Hip abduction and adduction activities, knee flexion of about 90 degrees, shoulder width apart, knee adduction and abduction activities, for 5 to 10 minutes. Hip joint external rotation, internal rotation activity exercise method: supine position, both lower limbs straight, hands on the side of the body, feet apart, equal to the shoulder, to the heel as the axis, for the lower limb external rotation internal rotation activities, for 5 to 10 minutes. Hip flexion position external rotation, internal rotation activity exercise method: supine position, make the knee flexion 100 °, hip flexion 90 °, hands holding the knee, the use of wrist strength repeatedly for external rotation, internal rotation activities, lasting 5 ~ 10 minutes. After 3 months: Kneeling abduction hip flexion and extension exercise method: take a kneeling position, knees as far apart as possible, both upper limbs straighten to support the upper body, the knee joint is fixed, the body for forward and backward movement, flexion and extension of the hip joint. Hip abduction straight leg raising activity exercise method: supine position, both lower limbs straight, hands on the side of the body, the affected limb abduction straight leg raising 25 ° ~ 35 °, continued for 1 minute to put down, for 10 times. Similarly, lateral and prone leg lifting can be done to exercise the lateral and posterior muscle groups. Hip flexion method: the patient is sitting on the edge of the bed or chair, the lower limbs are separated; the affected limbs are repeatedly flexing the knees and hips for 3 to 5 minutes. Holding the knee method: the patient is sitting on the edge of the bed, sofa, chair, both lower limbs are separated, hands holding the affected limb below the knee repeatedly bending the elbow and pulling back with the active hip flexion movement, increase the power and amplitude of hip flexion. Open the law: sitting on a chair or stool, hip, knee and ankle joints at an angle of 90 °, feet together, with the toes of both feet as the axis of the double knee adduction, inward movement, mainly outward for 3 to 5 minutes. Pedaling Activity Method: Sit steadily on the special bicycle exercise equipment, such as pedaling bicycle traveling, speed gradually accelerate the speed of the activity for 10 to 20 minutes. Weight-bearing activity method: sit on the bedside of the knee joint, ankle weight-bearing 2 to 3 kg, extension and flexion 7 to 8 times, repeat after rest. Half a year later: the above functional exercises need to be persistent, and do not rush, I hope to help the majority of patients. Please look forward to the video teaching.