Early loss of fixation of femoral neck fractures. Comparison of three devices in 244 cases.

In successive series of displaced subcapital femoral neck fractures in the elderly, we operated on 75 cases with three Gouffon screws, 94 with three Mecron screws, and 75 with two von Bahr screws. Redisplacement within 3 months occurred in 20 Gouffon cases, 11 Mecron cases, and 12 von Bahr cases. Poor reduction contributed to the failures in all the groups. Although the reduction results in the three groups were similar, the Mecron group had better fixation and better social recovery than the Gouffon group. We concluded that, in addition to good reduction of the fracture, solid screws also contributed to the stability of the bone-implant construct.