title: When is the stability of a fracture fixation limited by osteoporotic bone?
abstract: This article is concerned with the search for threshold values for bone quality beyond which the risk of fixation failure increased. For trochanteric fractures we recognized a BMD lower than 250mg/cm(3) as an additional risk for cut out. For medial femoral neck fractures since joint replacement surgery is available and produces excellent functional results, we see no indication for further differentiation or analysis of bone quality in relation to fracture fixation. In the area of osteoporotic vertebral body fractures, there are many experimental studies that try to identify BMD limits of screw fixation in the cancellous bone on the basis of QCT analysis. However, these values have not yet been introduced for application in clinical practice. In case of indication for surgical fixation, we favor minimally invasive, bisegmental, fourfold dorsal instrumentation with screw-augmentation for a T-value less than -2.0 SD (DXA analysis, total hip or total lumbar spine). For proximal humerus fractures, BMD value of 95mg/cm(3) could be seen as a threshold value below which the risk of failure rises markedly. In relation to osteoporotic distal radius fractures, based on our clinical experience and scientific analyses there are virtually no restrictions as far as bone quality is concerned on the application of palmar locking implants in the surgical management of distal radius fractures. Optimization of preoperative diagnostics might help to revise the treatment algorithm to take bone density into account, thus reducing the risk of failure and, at the same time, acquiring additional data for future reference.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Hugstetterstr. 55, 79106Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Konstantinidis
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Hugstetterstr. 55, 79106Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Helwig
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Hugstetterstr. 55, 79106Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirschmüller
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Hugstetterstr. 55, 79106Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Langenmair
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Universitätsklinik Freiburg, Hugstetterstr. 55, 79106Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Norbert P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Südkamp
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biomechanik, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Murnau & Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Prof. Kuentscher Str. 8, 82418Murnau, Germany. Electronic address: biomechanik@bgu-murnau.de.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Augat
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D015519:Bone Density; D005265:Femoral Neck Fractures; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005592:Fracture Fixation; D005594:Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D058866:Osteoporotic Fractures / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011884:Radius / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013131:Spine / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016474:Weight-Bearing
keywords: Failure; Fracture fixation; Osteoporotic bone; Stability