[Diagnosis and treatment of femural neck fractures from the beginning to operative treatment: a historical overview].

Operative stabilisation of femural neck fractures is a routine procedure nowadays and is usually performed without delay. Treatment by osteosynthesis or endoprosthesis allows immediate mobilisation with at least partial weight bearing.Immobilisation for months, associated with high mortality as practiced in former times, is nearly forgotten. We present a review on 430 years of diagnosis and treatment of these fractures since the first description by Ambroise Paré. In fact, it took 150 years to recognise the different locations of various hip fractures; at the time, fractures close to the caput were felt to have no chance of healing. Impacted fractures of the femural neck were first described 250 years after the first publication by A. Paré.This article also presents an overview on the development of various treatments to stabilise hip fractures: closed reduction and repositioning by internal rotation of the external rotated leg, positioning of the leg on the double inclined splint, different types of extension treatment and finally early operative procedures, when asepsis was established and fractures could be imaged by x-rays.