Management of Hip Fractures in Lateral Position without a Fracture Table

Background:  Hip fracture Management in supine position on a fracture table with biplane fluoroscopic views has some difficulties which leads to prolongation of surgery and increasing x- rays’ dosage. The purpose of this study was to report the results and complications of hip fracture management in lateral position on a conventional operating table with just anteroposterior fluoroscopic view.  Methods:  40 hip fractures (31 trochanteric and 9 femoral neck fractures) were operated in lateral position between Feb 2006 and Oct 2012. Age, gender, fracture classification, operation time, intra-operation blood loss, reduction quality, and complications were extracted from patients’ medical records. The mean follow-up time was 30.78±22.73 months (range 4-83). Results: The mean operation time was 76.50 ± 16.88 min (range 50 – 120 min).The mean intra-operative blood loss was 628.75 ± 275.00 ml (range 250-1300ml). Anatomic and acceptable reduction was observed in 95%of cases. The most important complications were malunion (one case in trochanteric group), avascular necrosis of oral head and nonunion (each one case in femoral neck group).  Conclusions:  It sounds that reduction and fixation of hip fractures in lateral position with fluoroscopy in just anteroposterior view for small rural hospitals may be executable and probably safe.