Femoral neck shortening in adult patients under the age of 55 years is associated with worse functional outcomes: Analysis of the prospective multi-center study of hip fracture outcomes in China (SHOC)

Severe shortening is associated with clinically important decreases in functional outcome as measured by HHS following fixation of young femoral neck fractures, occurring in 13% of patients in this population. The principle of fracture site compression utilized by modern constructs may promote healing; however, excessive shortening is associated with worse patient-reported outcomes and objective functional measures.