Abstract:

Our aim was to investigate the presence of incomplete atypical femur fractures in contralateral femurs of patients who underwent surgical treatment for a complete atypical femur fractures and to compare patients with incomplete fractures and patients without incomplete fractures. Material and Methods: The patients who underwent surgical treatment for atypical femur fracture in our clinic between January 2012 and December 2018 were evaluated retrospectively and it was observed that 46 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In all patients, the contralateral femurs were evaluated for an incomplete atypical femur fracture during hospitalization. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of incomplete atypical fracture in the contralateral side and age, gender, bisphosphonate usage duration, body mass index values, hip and lumbar T scores, serum parathormone, 25-OH Vitamin D and alkaline phosphatase levels were compared. Results: All patients were women with an average age 72.9 ± 5.9 years. The average duration of bisphosphonates was 7.9 ± 1.6 years. In 11 (23.9%) patients, incomplete atypical fracture was detected in contralateral femur. Age, bisphosphonate usage duration, body mass index values, hip and lumbar T scores, serum parathormone, 25-OH Vitamin D and alkaline phosphatase levels were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion: We conclude that the contralateral femurs of all patients with atypical femur fractures should be evaluated for the evidence of an incomplete fracture. We believe that early detection and treatment with evaluating the risk for impending complete fracture of incomplete atypical femur fractures would prevent the serious morbidity of patients.

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