Traumatology >>>> Hip fracture - signs and treatment

Hip fracture - signs and treatment.

One of the most common injuries in older people is a hip fracture.

The cause of such a fracture can be a fall or an unsuccessful turn of the body in a dream, less often a blow.

A feature of a hip fracture is the fact that the victim may not even understand that he has received a fracture when falling or turning. The painful sensations may resemble a severe bruise of the hip, and an untimely appeal to the trauma department of the hospital will create conditions that are impossible for the bone fragments to fusion, since the spontaneous fusion will not occur due to insufficient blood supply to this part of the bone.

Signs of a hip fracture:

it hurts to walk,
it hurts to step on the heel, tapping on the heel causes pain in the groin or thigh area,
the groin fold on the injured leg is located higher than that on the healthy leg,
a bedridden patient cannot tear off the heel on his own from the surface of the bed,
the foot in a supine position is turned outward,
one leg, when compared, is several centimeters longer than the other leg (2-5).

Chronic hip fracture is not treatable. In initially bedridden patients, the treatment of the femoral neck is carried out conservatively (they put on a plaster boot to fix the lower limb), and conservative treatment is also required for patients who cannot undergo surgery: with diseases in the stage of decompensation, with mental disorders.

A full-fledged surgical treatment is carried out in order to install metal fasteners in the fracture area to connect the fragments and create the prerequisites, if not for their fusion, then at least for rigid fixation.

Sometimes an exhaust mechanism is installed, but not all elderly patients are able to withstand the exhaust.

Patients with a hip fracture with bed rest require special care. In order to avoid complications, patients are advised to turn with assistance and do breathing exercises. For self-getting out of bed, a frame is installed or a belt is attached on which the patient can pull himself up.