Nowadays, fracture surgery represents a big part of the orthopedic surgeon workload, and usually has associated major clinical and social cost implications. These fractures have several complications. Some of these are medical, and other related to the surgical treatment itself. Medical complications may affect around 20% of patients with hip fracture. Cognitive and neurological alterations, cardiopulmonary affections (alone or combined), venous thromboembolism, gastrointestinal tract bleeding, urinary tract complications, perioperative anemia, electrolytic and metabolic disorders, and pressure scars are the most important medical complications after hip surgery in terms of frequency, increase of length of stay and perioperative mortality. Complications arising from hip fracture surgery are fairly common, and vary depending on whether the fracture is intracapsular or extracapsular. The main problems in intracapsular fractures are biological: vascularization of the femoral head, and lack of periosteum -a major contributor to fracture healing- in the femoral neck. In extracapsular fractures, by contrast, the problem is mechanical, and relates to load-bearing. Early surgical fixation, the role of anti-thromboembolic and anti-infective prophylaxis, good pain control at the perioperative, detection and management of delirium, correct urinary tract management, avoidance of malnutrition, vitamin D supplementation, osteoporosis treatment and advancement of early mobilization to improve functional recovery and falls prevention are basic recommendations for an optimal maintenance of hip fractured patients.

Level III, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

The objective of this paper was to determine the outcome of the transfer of the latissimus dorsi tendon in patients with massive irreparable rotator cuff tears. Eighteen patients of mean age 54 years (range 37-72 years) with massive irreparable rotator cuff tears were studied. The mean follow-up was 28 months (range 12-58 months). The postoperative Constant score was higher by an average of 21.15 points compared to the preoperative score (P=0.002); 88.8% of patients reported significant pain relief and improved mobility, particularly on external rotation. Postoperative resting antero-posterior radiography in neutral rotation revealed a mean 3.2-mm depression of the humeral head, due to the tenodesis effect of tendon transfer, thus, increasing the deltoid lever arm. These clinical results suggest that latissimus dorsi transfer is a useful surgical technique for treating massive irreparable postero-superior tears of the rotator cuff in young and/or active patients, providing significant pain relief and improved shoulder strength.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the burden of osteoporotic fractures beyond the hospitalization period covering up to the first year after the fracture. This was a prospective, 12-month, observational study including patients aged ≥65 years hospitalized due to a first low-trauma hip fracture, in six Spanish regions. Health resource utilization (HRU), quality of life (QoL) and autonomy were collected and total costs calculated. Four hundred and eighty seven patients (mean ± SD age 83 ± 7 years, 77 % women) were included. Twenty-two percent of patients reported a prior non-hip low-trauma fracture, 16 % were receiving osteoporotic treatment at baseline, and 3 % had densitometry performed (1.8 % T-score ≤−2.5). Sixteen percent of patients died (women 14 %; men 25 %; p = 0.0011) during the first year. Mean hospital stay was 11.8 ± 7.9 days and 95.1 % of patients underwent surgery. Other relevant HRUs were: outpatient visits in 78 % of patients (mean 9.2 ± 9.7); walking aids, 58.7 %; rehabilitation facilities, 35.5 % (28.7 ± 41.2 sessions); and formal and informal home care, 22.2 % (49.6 ± 72.2 days) and 53.4 % (77.1 ± 101.0 h), respectively. Mean direct cost was €9690 (95 % confidence interval: 9184–10,197) in women and €9019 (8079–9958) in men. Main cost drivers were: first hospitalization episode (women €7067 [73 %]; men €7196 [80 %]); outpatient visits (€1323 [14 %]; €997 [11 %]); and home care (€905 [9 %]; €767 [9 %]). QoL and autonomy showed a marked decrease during hospitalization, not entirely recovered at 12 months (p < 0.05 vs. baseline for EQ-5D, Harris hip score and modified Barthel index). In a Spanish setting, osteoporotic hip fractures incur a high societal and economic cost, mainly due to the first hospitalization HRU, but also due to subsequent outpatient visits and home care.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00223-016-0193-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Surgical excision of the fractured osteochondroma may be preferable for patients engaging in sport.