Principles of treatment for geriatric intertrochanteric fractures

  With China’s gradual entry into an aging society, intertrochanteric fractures have become a common disease among the elderly, of which falls are the most common cause of injury, and the elderly are often combined with arthritis, eye disorders, cerebral thrombosis and other medical diseases, resulting in a decrease in neuromuscular and joint coordination, making it easy to fall. In the eyes of most people, fracture is not a common occurrence.  In most people’s eyes, fractures are not fatal, but for the elderly, a fracture of the trochanter may be the last blow of their lives. Due to the fracture, the elderly lose the ability to stand, walk or even move in bed. In the past, due to the relatively backward medical technology and level, most of the elderly patients had to be bedridden for a long time for conservative treatment, and the long-term bedridden is more likely to cause the decline of heart and lung and other important organ functions, and the occurrence of pneumonia, decubitus ulcer, urinary stones, deep vein thrombosis of lower limbs, pulmonary embolism and other Complications, once the above complications occur, make the treatment and care of the complications more difficult due to the pain and joint movement disorders caused by the fracture, although the fracture will not cause death, but the long-term bed-ridden complications will seriously threaten the life of the elderly, according to statistics, the mortality rate of patients with intertrochanteric fractures treated conservatively after 1 year is as high as 30%. In addition, the incidence of deformed healing, delayed healing, and non-healing is significantly higher after conservative treatment, and serious functional impairment is more likely to remain. In addition to the physical and psychological pain caused by intertrochanteric fractures, the high cost of medical and nursing care caused by prolonged bed rest has become a heavy burden for individuals, families and society.  In the face of the serious situation brought about by intertrochanteric fracture, the medical profession has reached a consensus that patients should be made to sit up, turn around and get out of bed as soon as possible to reduce the chance of complications caused by long-term bed rest and to reduce the mortality rate of patients. In addition, we should try to create the basic conditions for rehabilitation and exercise to maximize the function of the affected limbs, so that the elderly can regain the ability to take care of themselves and improve the quality of life as soon as possible. To achieve the above purpose, it is often necessary to reset and fix the fracture with the help of surgery, that is to say, if the elderly can physically tolerate surgery, they should try to fight for the opportunity of surgery. This is also the basic principle of treatment for intertrochanteric fractures.  Although the basic treatment principles for intertrochanteric fractures have been established, there are still many difficulties to implement them. This has placed higher demands on medical institutions to apply minimally invasive techniques to reduce the interference of anesthesia and surgery on the internal environment of the elderly, to minimize the anesthesia and surgery time, to reduce intraoperative bleeding, and to ensure perioperative safety. With the update and progress of treatment concept, surgical technology and internal fixation materials, the current treatment level has basically solved the above-mentioned problems. Some experienced experts and large hospitals have carried out closed reduction and percutaneous minimally invasive internal fixation techniques for the treatment of geriatric intertrochanteric fractures, and achieved good results.  Since 2005, our hospital has successfully treated more than 800 cases of geriatric intertrochanteric fractures with an average operation time of 20-40 minutes and bleeding of 30-50 ml. Most patients can sit up in bed on the second day after surgery, and most of them can get out of bed within one week. Satisfactory results were obtained.  Based on our experience of successfully treating nearly 1,000 cases of intertrochanteric fractures in elderly people, the medical institution that carries out surgical treatment of intertrochanteric fractures should have the following basic conditions: 1. It should have strong cardiology, respiratory medicine, endocrinology, anesthesiology, intensive care unit and other functional departments, which can accurately and comprehensively assess the physical condition of the elderly before the operation, make a good plan, and be able to provide the best care in case of intraoperative and postoperative perioperative In the event of intraoperative and postoperative period, we can collaborate with multiple departments and provide timely treatment to minimize the risk caused by medical disorders.  2. There should be advanced hardware conditions such as special surgical traction and repositioning beds, surgical instruments specifically for treating osteoporotic hip fractures in the elderly, and fluoroscopic equipment for intraoperative image monitoring, which are necessary conditions for minimally invasive surgery.  3. There should be experienced experts who can apply minimally invasive techniques and complete the surgery in the shortest time with high quality. Only with the above-mentioned basic conditions can the team’s strength be brought into play, accurate assessment and adequate preparation be made to ensure safe and rapid completion. In turn, satisfactory results can be obtained.