Journal of orthopaedics
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Journal of orthopaedics · Nov 2019
Computational modelling of forces acting on the femur in acetabular fractures: A finite element analysis study.
The rising incidence of acetabular fractures in the elderly presents an increasing surgical challenge due to patient co-morbidities, complex fracture patterns' and osteoporotic bone. Of interest in this study are those of the quadrilateral plate, which are more common in elderly patients with osteoporosis. Following such injuries, the weight-bearing surface of the femoral head moves medially. Non-operative management of these fractures can lead to the acetabulum articulating on the femoral neck increasing the risk of subsequent femoral neck fracture as a result of the altered biomechanics.Using finite element analysis (FEA) this study seeks to understand the changing biomechanics of the proximal femur in such instances and to determine if there is a threshold of femoral head medialisation that can predict probability of femoral neck fracture. ⋯ With medialisation of the femur into a fractured acetabulum there is a significant change in the stress distribution within the femoral neck. Clinically, this is indicates that patients with such injuries are at an increased risk of femoral neck fractures once they begin to mobilise after the initial injury, a devastating result. This model may be of use to treating surgeons in predicting the risk of femoral neck fracture.