The unpredictable outcomes of bilateral simultaneous fractures of neck of femur: Case series

Abstract

Bilateral simultaneous fractures of Neck of Femur (NOF) are rare. They result amongst others from trauma, metabolic disease, electro-convulsion and simple falls. We report two cases of 40-year-old and 74-year-old females who presented with bilateral simultaneous fractures of NOF post simple falls. Both patients had staged bilateral fracture fixation; right Total Hip Replacement (THR) and cannulated screws to the left hip for the 40-year old while the 74-year old had bilateral THR. The 40-year old had multiple post-operative complications of pneumonia, deep venous complications (DVT) and failure of cannulated screws leading to conversion to a THR while the 74 year-old did not have any complications at 1-year follow-up. Osteoporosis was the underlying disease for the 70 year old while for the 40 year old no underlying disease process was found despite thorough medical workup. We advocate for thorough medical work-up to diagnose, treat and prevent future fracture fixation complications and progression of the disease process.