What is insufficiency fracture of femur?
Introduction. Subchondral insufficiency fracture (SIF) is the fracture occurring in femoral head without any trauma and usually presents with hip pain [1,2]. The two categories of patients commonly affected are young military recruits and old patients with poor bone stock.
How is an insufficiency fracture different from a traumatic fracture?
A stress or insufficiency fracture is a crack in a bone that occurs without a definite injury. It occurs as result of repetitive activity as opposed to a single traumatic event that causes a more traditional break or fracture. They are much more common in the lower extremity as these bones are considered weightbearing.
Is an insufficiency fracture the same as a stress fracture?
Insufficiency fractures are a type of stress fracture, which are the result of normal stresses on abnormal bone.
What is an insufficiency fracture of the hip?
Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head (SIFFH) is characterized by acute onset hip pain without overt trauma. It appears as a low intensity band with bone marrow edema on T1-weighted MRI. The most common course of treatment is protected weight bearing for a period of several weeks.
Do insufficiency fractures heal?
It can happen at any age, but most younger patients will heal on their own with rest and time. Older adults and those with conditions such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis are at higher risk for an insufficiency fracture becoming chronic, meaning that it has not healed after about three months.
How long does it take an insufficiency fracture to heal?
These fragility pelvic fractures can be painful and are treated with rest, minimizing weight bearing with a walker or crutches, rehabilitation by physiotherapist, and treating the patient with supplemental calcium and vitamin D. These fractures can take 3 to 4 months to heal.
How is a pelvic insufficiency fracture treated?
Cementoplasty is an effective method of palliation in cancer patients with pelvic insufficiency fractures. A cementoplasty involves injecting bone cement into a fracture using a thin needle in order to stabilize and strengthen the bone, whether the fracture was pathologic or due to insufficiency (18).
What is osteoporotic fracture?
Osteoporotic fractures (fragility fractures, low-trauma fractures) are those occurring from a fall from a standing height or less, without major trauma such as a motor vehicle accident.
What is the treatment for an insufficiency fracture?
Can insufficiency fractures heal?
Are pelvic insufficiency fractures painful?
With a growing geriatric population, the incidence of pelvic insufficiency fracture has increased over the last 3 decades and will continue to do so. These fractures can cause considerable pain, loss of independence, and economic burden to both the patient and the health care system.
Will I end up in a wheelchair with osteoporosis?
Counting hospital stays, surgeries, office visits and nursing home visits, osteoporosis costs almost $19 billion in related costs every year. 4. It is preventable and treatable. You do not have to end up in a wheelchair!
What is subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head?
A subchondral insufficiency fracture (SIF) of the femoral head is a recently proposed concept, which needs to be differentiated from osteonecrosis. Clinically, SIF has generally been observed in the osteoporotic elderly women or renal transplant recipients.
Which is an example of an insufficiency fracture?
Andrew Murphy ◉ and Dr Henry Knipe ◉ ◈ et al. Atypical femoral fracture also known as bisphosphonate-related proximal femoral fractures are an example of insufficiency fractures, although the direct causative link remains somewhat controversial 2. The atypical fracture pattern occurs in the femur shaft and may be unilateral or bilateral.
How to identify patients with pelvic insufficiency fractures?
To identify patients with pelvic insufficiency fractures, the radiology information system of our department was searched using the terms “pelvis,” “sacrum” or “femur,” and “stress fractures” or “insufficiency fractures,” for the time period from January 1, 1997, through June 27, 2007.
Where does the atypical femoral fracture occur in the body?
The atypical fracture pattern occurs in the femur shaft and may be unilateral or bilateral. Atypical femoral fractures have been defined by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research by the following criteria 6,9: location in the femoral diaphysis: distal to the lesser trochanter but proximal to the supracondylar flare