[Upper femoral neck fractures at a local hospital. A retrospective study from the Sandnessjøn hospital 1988-91].

The frequency of patients treated for hip fracture at Sandnessjøen hospital was recorded for the years 1988-91. In a population of about 29,000, the discharge from hospital was 1.89 per 1,000 inhabitants, corresponding to 6.5% of the total number of discharges. The ratio of females to males was 2.7. The fractures were equally distributed between the medial and lateral subtypes, but perioperative complications were more frequently noted with the former. The most common occurrence was segmental collapse of the femoral head, together with local pain. Based on a questionnaire, about 3/4 of the patients complained of reduced physical fitness after the operation. During the previous 22 years, only seven out of 40 local hospitals in Norway had undertaken some sort of survey of patients with this common fracture. It appears that as many as about 40% of the patients who were treated for hip fracture suffered from some form of complication following the operation.