WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Mohammed Hameed Sulaiman, Omar Farooq Khaleel and *Saad Abdulsalam Fathi

ABSTRACT

Background:Trochanteric fractures are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly, particularlyamong those with osteoporosis. Individuals who suffer from age related systemic diseases and trocha ntericfractures are at an increased risk of complications and death. In certain circumstances, open reduction and internalfixation are not feasible due to the poor health status of the patients and the exceedingly high risks associated withsurgery and a nesthesia. External fixation and closed reduction can be regarded as a semiconservative course oftreatment in these circumstances. Objectives: Is to evaluate the complication of external fixation techniques fortreating closed intertrochanteric femur frac tures in elderly patients at high anesthetic risk. Methods: The study is a prospective, interventional study. Forty patients with closed intertrochanteric femur fractures who received external fixator treatment at Al Salam Teaching Hospital in Mosul-Iraq between January 2020 and December 2024 are included in this study. The study questionnaire was divided into four parts. The first part provides demographic and trauma information of the study participants. The second part covers kyle’s classification of the fractures. The third part covers anesthesia types the patient received and the last part covers the post-operative complications of the study’s patients. Results : The study included 40 elderly patients, of 24 (60%) were femalesand 16 (40%) were males. Wi th male to female ratio 1:1.5. the mean age ± standard deviation of the studyparticipants is 79.93 ± 11.12 years. The majority of patients (47.5%) had type 1 (stable) fracture, followed by type2 (30%) then type 3 (17.5%) and type 4 (5%). 24 (60%) patients reported fall on the ground, followed by 11(27.5%) patients r eported fall from height and lastly 5 (12.5%) patients reported road traffic accident. Spinalanesthesia was done for 19 (47.5%) patients, general anesthesia for 13 (32.5%) patients and epidural anesthesiafor 8 (20%) patients. The average time needed for completing the operation is 46.38 ± 12 minutes. No patientsneed perioperative blood. Additionally; during the post operative period, all patients exhibited limited kneeflexion, but this improved with follow up visits. Pin tract infection, which was preva lent among 21 (52.5%)patients. Moreover; 11 (27.5%) patients had bed sore which were treated successfully by local antibiotics andfrequent dressing, 5 (12.5%) patients developed shortening and malunion of the affected limb which was resultedfrom varus a ngulation or bone impaction, 5 (12.5%) patients had deep venous. 1 (2.5 %) patient was diedpostoperatively during the first month due to unrelated medical conditions. Conclusion: Closed external fixationis recommended for older patients with high risk in tertrochanteric fractures due to its ease of use, low operationtime, and few complication sequelae.