Proximal femoral nail antirotation versus proximal femoral nail InterTan® in treatment of femoral intertrochanteric fractures in elderly patients

Objective To compare the effect of proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA) versus proximal femoral nail InterTan^®in the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures in elderly patients. Methods A total of 123 patients with femoral intertrochanteric fractures were selected from March 2014 to March 2017 in the First People's Hospital of Chengdu, and were divided into group PFNA (n=61) and group InterTan (n=62) by nailing system used in surgery. The operating time, intraoperative blood loss, hip hospital for special surgery (HSS) score before surgery and at one week and six months after surgery were observed. Results There was no significant difference in baseline data between two groups. The operating time (48.3±10.2) min vs (84.2±15.6) min, intraoperative blood loss (108.4±12.7) ml vs (175.3±27.2) ml and the HSS score (62.4±4.5) vs (68.8±6.7) at one week after operation in group PFNA were significantly lower than those in group InterTan (all P< 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in HSS score at six months after operation between two groups (P> 0.05). Conclusion PFNA is an optimal choice for elderly patients with intertrochanteric fractures if patients haven't severe osteoporosis and obvious risk of nail cutting.