Objective To investigate the effect of treatment with proximal femoral nail (PFN) on femur intertrochanteric fractures in the old. Methods A retrospective study of 62 patients with femur intertrochantericfractures treated with PFN from October 2001 to September 2003 was carried out.The data of operative time, blood loss, intraoperative complications, wound drainage, postoperative complications, healing time, and hip function were recordedand compared with previous literature so as to evaluate the effect. Results All patients were followed up for 8-22 month(13.6 months on average). Intraoperative fracture occurred again in 2 cases. Two patients died of brain embolism and pulmonary infection respectively. Heterogeneous ossification occurred in 2 cases. Hip varus occurred in 1 case. Extra hip anteversion occurred in 1 case. The effect of other cases was satisfactory. The operative time was 76.5±29.1 min, the mean blood loss was 385.7±98.4 ml, the wound drainage was 45.5±21.7 ml, and the healing time was 13.2±3.8 weeks. According to the Sanders post-trauma hip function assessing system, the excellent and good rate was 89.6%. Conclusion The application of PFN is characterized by short operative time, less blood loss, stable fixation, so it is an effective way to treat femur intertrochanteric fracture in the old.
