Subtrochanteric fracture of the femur. Fixation using the Zickel nail

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[published erratum appears in J Bone Joint Surg [Am] 1988 Jan;70(1):152] Bergman-GD; Winquist-RA; Mayo-KA; Hansen-ST Jr J-Bone-Joint-Surg-Am. 1987 Sep; 69(7): 1032-40 We divided 131 patients who had a subtrochanteric fracture into four clinical groups: elderly patients who had a fracture secondary to minor trauma, patients who had a fracture due to high-energy trauma, those who had a pathological fracture, and patients who had a fracture that previously had been treated unsuccessfully with internal fixation. In each patient operative fixation was performed using the Zickel device, and overall satisfactory results were obtained in 90 per cent. Considering the challenging nature of subtrochanteric fractures, complications, which included a rate of non-union of approximately 5 per cent, were minimum. Technical details for each of the four groups are emphasized.