Abstract
Using orthoradiography, the distance between the centre of the femoral head and the intercondylar notch was assessed at regular intervals in 144 patients who were followed for a 2-year period after osteosynthesis of a femoral neck fracture. Late complications, such as segmental collapse and non-union, occurred in 27% of the patients. The degree of femoral shortening was significantly correlated to the incidence of late complications. At 1 month, femoral shortening of more than 5 mm was observed in 85% of patients who developed late complications, and in only 5% of patients without such complications. Thus, the observation of a shortening of more than 5 mm predicted a greater than 6-fold increase of the incidence of late complications. The prognostic accuracy of this observation 1 month after treatment was 92%.