Free vascularized fibular grafting for treatment of old femoral neck fractures

The internal fixation failure for treatment of femoral neck fracture is mainly due to improper fixation, loss of fixation stability and premature ambulation. Bone nonunion and avascular osteonecrosis of the femoral head caused by the internal fixation failure for femoral neck fracture are always the complex topics in orthopedics. With regard to patients who sustain these complications, total hip arthroplasty is a proper choice for elderly patients, but is not acceptable by young patients. We report nine patients with the failure of internal fixation for femoral neck fracture who were treated with free vascularized fibular grafting and internal fixation with cannulated screw from November 2001 to October 2003. All of them achieved good results.