The effect of early weight-bearing on the stability of femoral neck fractures treated with Knowles pins

Abstract

I compared the effects of early weight-bearing on the stability of femoral neck fractures following Knowles-pin fixation with data on a similar group of patients who were studied ten years previously, in which weight-bearing had been delayed until radiographic evidence of fracture-healing was apparent. The results concerning stability were essentially comparable, indicating that early weight-bearing did not adversely affect the stability of a properly reduced and pinned displaced fracture of the femoral neck. Factors that did adversely affect stability following fixation with Knowles pins included the degree of initial displacement of the fracture (Garden Type IV), failure to adequately reduce or fix the fracture, and severe demineralizing bone disease as measured in an iliac-crest biopsy specimen obtained at the time of surgery.