Subtrochanteric fractures of the femur.

The results of treatment of fifty-six patients with subtrochanteric fractures of the femur are presented and a new classification of these fractures is described. In forty-seven fractures treated with internal fixation there were nine failures of fixation. One type of lesion, the three-part spiral subtrochanteric fracture, occurred eighteen times and accounted for eight of the failures of fixation.