Displaced femoral neck fracture in children and adolescents: closed versus open reduction - a preliminary study

Twenty-six children and adolescents with displaced femoral neck fractures who were treated surgically from 1992 to 2002 were included in this study. Among them, 14 were male and 12 were female. Altogether, 10 of them had a transcervical type of fracture, and the other 16 had a cervicotrochanteric type of fracture. The average age of the patients was 10.8 years (3-17 years). Seventeen were treated by closed reduction and internal fixation (group A), and nine required open reduction and internal fixation (group B). In group A, there were good results in 11 cases (65%), a fair result in one case (6%), and poor results in 5 cases (29%). In group B, there were good results in seven cases (78%) and fair results in the other two cases (22%). The average fracture union times in groups A and B were 12.6 and 10.2 weeks, respectively. Thus, there was a favorable outcome in group B. However, statistical analysis of data in this preliminary study did not reveal any significant difference in the surgical outcome between the two groups.