Preoperative pillow placement under the injured extremity had better analgesic effects than skin traction for hip fracture.

Intervention Preoperatively, patients were allocated to have a pillow placed under the ipsilateral thigh of the injured hip in the resting position of the extremity (n=50, pillow group) or to placement of 5 pounds of skin traction, applied by fitting a foam traction boot to the injured extremity and then suspending a 5 pound weight over a pulley at the foot of the bed (n=50, traction group). All patients received standardised pain medication as needed.