The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 66, Issue 6 847-852, Copyright © 1984 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
The effect of early weight-bearing on the stability of femoral neck fractures treated with Knowles pins
WD Arnold
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.