If a man’s hip is broken, the whole process of recovery will take a lot of time and careful care for the patient and his entourage. The patient himself and his relatives should be aware of all the physiological and anatomical disorders that are caused by damage to the hip joint.
It is regrettable, but in almost 90% of cases of bone fracture in the elderly, the neck breaks. The vast majority of victims of this are women over 55. Fracture of the femoral neck, rehabilitation after which requires a long time and many efforts, among various kinds of fractures is more than 6%. Such an injury will require strict bed rest and treatment, which can take several months. A broken femoral neck can be fatal. So according to some reports, among those who have received such a fracture, more than 20% (according to other sources, more than 40%) of people die.
The most important reason for this fracture is various kinds of falls on the area of the body where the femoral joint is located (on the side). Why does the hip neck break so easily? The main reason for this is the long-term deficiency of calcium ions and some other nutrients and minerals in the human diet, which are used by the human body to continuously renew cartilage and bone tissue. These tissues are a kind of accumulator of calcium and other mineral substances that give them strength. The exclusion from the diet of meat and bone broths, the rejection of dairy products leads to an increasing deficit of calcium in bone tissues. This increases their fragility, which ultimately ends with osteoporosis.
The femoral neck breaks down in women more often because they have a significant loss of calcium during pregnancy and lactation. In addition, endocrine rearrangements that occur in women during menopause contribute to increased leaching of calcium from bone tissue.
By its anatomy, the femoral neck is a simple joint. The femur has a lateral formation in its upper part, resembling the hilt of a cane. This formation ends with a convex smooth hemisphere, which is called the head of the joint. This hemisphere fits tightly into the corresponding hemispherical recess located on the pelvic bone (acetabulum). A tight and movable connection between them is provided by a group of tendon ligaments resembling stretched rubber bands. Smaller ligaments and connective tissue formations located directly around this joint are its capsule, covering sliding cartilaginous surfaces filled with intraarticular fluid. Inside the capsule, in the very center of the joint, a ligament enters the head of the femur from the pelvic bone, including the blood vessels and nerve fibers that feed the bones and joints.
Fractures of the femoral neck are dangerous because in the joint during movement there is trauma to the surrounding tissues by bone fragments, which can lead to the development of aseptic necrosis. Such cases require endoprosthetics - the formation of an artificial joint made of polymers or metals, which are not rejected by the body and allow you to switch to limited active movements in a few days.
In case of external fractures (extracapsular), osteosynthesis can be performed - fixation of the fracture site with a plate or metal pin. In this case, rehabilitation after a femoral neck fracture also begins earlier, since the patient’s immobilization time and the risk of complications are reduced. In some simple cases, doctors are limited to immobilization and extension of the lower extremities. Such patients need prolonged bed rest and careful care, since long bed rest can lead to pressure sores, constipation, hypodynamic pneumonia and thrombosis of the large veins of the thigh and lower leg. All these complications require a long and expensive treatment, so the right regimen for such patients is vital.