The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume
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J Bone Joint Surg Am · Mar 1998
Postoperative weight-bearing after a fracture of the femoral neck or an intertrochanteric fracture.
Sixty patients who had had operative treatment of a fracture of the femoral neck or an intertrochanteric fracture were allowed to bear weight as tolerated on the injured limb. The average age was seventy-seven years. Computerized gait-testing was performed at one, two, three, six, and twelve weeks postoperatively to quantify weight-bearing. ⋯ During the first three weeks, the patients who had had internal fixation bore substantially less weight than those who had had a hemiarthroplasty. By six weeks, we could detect no significant differences, with the numbers available, among the groups with regard to weight-bearing or other measured gait parameters. We concluded that elderly patients who are allowed to bear weight as tolerated after operative treatment of a fracture of the femoral neck or an intertrochanteric fracture appear to voluntarily limit loading of the injured limb.