Advances in the surgical treatment of fragility fractures of the upper femur.

Fragility fractures typically occur in elderly patients. They are related to osteoporosis, because of the weakening of the bone structure, and are the result of low-energy injuries and often involve the metaphyseal segments of bone. The fracture of the upper extremity of the femur are one of the most typical of the elderly patients. They may be intracapsular (femoral neck fractures) or extracapsular (intertrochanteric fractures). Each kind of fracture can be treated in several ways: the intracapsular fracture can be treated with screws, unipolar or bipolar hemiarthroplasty or even with total arthroplasty. The extracapsular fractures instead can be treated with sliding hip screw, intramedullary nail, femoral neck screws, helical blade or primary arthroplasty. What must be remembered is that osteoporotic bone has distinct morphologic characteristics that influence its biomechanical properties and therefore the choices and techniques for internal fixation. Therefore only a complete understanding of the biology of the osteoporotic bone will lead to a good quality of the treatment of the fragility fractures.