Walking performance of patients after intracapsular or extracapsular femoral neck fractures at the period of postoperative rehabilitation

The objective of this study was to enquire into walking performance of patients who suffered an intra or extracapsular femoral neck fracture, and were operated with either hemiarthroplasty (Austin Moore prosthesis) or with a sliding compression screw (Richard's nail) respectively. The patients were residents of a geriatric rehabilitation institution who were able to walk with a walker and permitted to bear their full body weight on the operated lower extremity. Measurements of temporal gait parameters and of the vertical force loaded on a 4-point cane were taken twice in a time interval of 2 weeks. The findings pointed to impaired ability to bear weight on the operated leg, with an asymmetrical gait pattern in both patient groups. Cane loading in both groups was comparable and it decreased in the second as compared to the first evaluation. In patients after hemiarthroplasty with an Austin Moore prosthesis, stance periods were longer and cadence was lower than in patients after fixation with a Richard's sliding compression screw. It was concluded that within the time limits of this work, the gait of patients who suffered an intracapsular femoral neck fracture and were treated with an Austin Moore prosthesis was impaired more than the gait of patients who suffered an extracapsular fracture and were treated with a Richard's compression screw.