Internal fixation of femoral neck fractures. Compression screw compared with nail plate fixation.

In a prospective, randomized study of femoral neck fracture operations, a newly developed compression-screw device was compared with the McLaughlin nail-plate. One hundred and twenty-eight fractures were treated with the compression screw and 127 with a nail plate. The patients were followed up for 3 years. All undisplaced fractures healed in both groups. Eleven per cent of displaced Garden 3 and 4 fractures did not heal in the compression-screw group compared to 25 per cent in the nail-plate group. Late segmental collapse occurred in 15 per cent of the healed displaced fractures in the compression-screw group, compared to 21 per cent in the nail-plate group. Fixation of femoral neck fractures using the new compression-screw device gave fewer failures without concomitant disadvantages compared to nail plate fixation.