Predictors of early failure in young patients with displaced femoral neck fractures.

INTRODUCTION This study compares early failure rates of sliding hip screw (SHS) and cannulated screw (CS) constructs in young patients. METHODS Patients <60 years of age, with displaced femoral neck fractures treated with CS or SHS fixation were included. Primary outcome was failure within 6 months. RESULTS One patient (3%) with SHS fixation and 6 patients (21%) with CS fixation failed within 6 months (P = 0.04). Regression analysis demonstrated type of fixation (P = 0.005) and reduction quality (P = 0.04) are independent predictors of early failure. CONCLUSIONS SHS constructs demonstrate a significantly lower short-term failure rate than CS constructs.