2006 - UZ Leuven

hip surgery. We evaluated our experience in results and complicationsof 56 periprosthetic femoral fractures in 54 patients with an averageage of 78 years at time of revision. The vast majority of these fractureswere Vancouver type B2 or B3 fractures. From December 1995 toDecember 2004, all these fractures were treated operatively withORIF (n=30), Wagner prosthesis (n=14) or a cementless tapered stem(n=6). The decision which strategy would be used, was not onlyinfluenced by the type of fracture but as well by the medical comorbiditiesof the patient. All these patients could be followed upprospectively for at least 1 year. We evaluated the radiographic signsof bone remodelling, prosthetic alignment and the rate of subsidence.The functional status and the complications related to the procedurewere evaluated as well. Our conclusion is that although most of thesepatients do have significant co-morbidities and these operations aretechnically highly demanding, the mortality rate and peri-operativecomplication rate are not as high as one would expect. In general, thefinal results are radiographically well-remodelled fractures at the 1year follow-up period with a functional painless mobility in which nowalking aid is required. Based on these results, we believe that ORIFin Vancouver type B1 and B2 fractures is a reliable option.DE TROYER B., NIJS S., GEUSENS E., DAENENS K., BROOS P.: Radialartery thrombosis by a single blunt trauma: a case report. Eur. J.Trauma, 2006; 32(3): 301-303.Acute thrombosis of the radial artery in the absence of arteriosclerosisis a rare event. We report on an acute thrombosis after a single blunt(carting) trauma. Since there were only local symptoms and no signsof digital ischemia, a conservative approach was preferred. Wedescribe the clinical presentation and review the literature concerningnon-atherosclerotic acute thrombosis of the radial artery.FIERENS J., BROOS P.L.O.: Quality of life after hip fracture surgery inthe elderly. Acta Chir. Belg., 2006; 106: 393-396.As the world population ages, the prevalence of osteoporosis and theincidence of hip fractures will increase dramatically, being responsiblefor an increase of the health expenditure. On the other hand, there isthe inescapable fact of scarcity creating the necessity of makingdifficult choices with regard to the allocation of human resources. Sothe question remains: should we carry on investing an important partof our health expenditure for the treatment of hip fractures in elderlypeople? To answer this statement, we compared 384 hip fracture120