Short-term Medical Complications Following Short Versus Long Cephalomedullary Nails

The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate whether there is an increased rate of short-term medical complications following short vs long cephalomedullary nails for the treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures. A total of 899 patients treated surgically with cephalomedullary nails from January 1, 2005, to September 1, 2014, were included. Patients who received short nails (n=334) were older and had a higher incidence of coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus compared with patients who received long nails (n=565). The incidences of 30-day medical complications, including myocardial infarction, stroke, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, blood transfusion, non-surgical site infection, surgical site infection, and mortality, were recorded. The orthopedic complications of periprosthetic fracture of the ipsilateral hip and implant failure through the latest outpatient follow-up were recorded. No significant difference was found between nails for any studied medical complication (63.5% short vs 66.0% long, P=.4393) or mortality (6.9% short vs 5.3% long, P=.3322). There was also no significant difference in the incidence of orthopedic complications (P=.70). Longer operating room time was associated with superficial surgical site infection. [Orthopedics. 2018; 41(5):e636-e642.].