• Charles H Crawford, Arthur L Malkani, Scot Cordray, Craig S Roberts, and William Sligar.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA.
• J Trauma. 2006 Feb 1;60(2):325-8; discussion 328-9.

BackgroundThe trochanteric nail, a redesigned short gamma nail, (Howmedica, Rutherford, NJ) was introduced in the United States during 1998 for the treatment of intertrochanteric fractures.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 93 patients who were treated for an intertrochanteric fracture with either a sliding hip screw (SHS) or the short trochanteric nail (TN).ResultsIn all, 94% of the patients in the sliding hip screw group healed without complication. There was one case of femoral head necrosis, one lag screw cutout, and one hardware removal for pain. Eighty-nine percent of the patients in the trochanteric nail group healed without complication. There was one late fracture at the tip of the nail, three cases of lag screw cutout, and one nonunion.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the trochanteric nail is a reasonable alternative to the sliding hip screw when used for intertrochanteric fractures, although it may be associated with higher complication rates.

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