Garden described different stages for an intracapsular fracture of the proximal femur (fracture of the femoral neck).
Radiologic examination: AP view of the pelvis and proximal femur, paying attention to the alignment of the medial weight-bearing lamellae (trabeculae) in the pelvis, femoral head and femoral neck.
Description |
Medial Weight Bearing Lamellae |
Term |
Stage |
greenstick fracture of the inferior cortical buttress with rotation, with X-ray appearance of impaction |
femoral head lamellae rotated laterally |
incomplete subcapital |
I |
complete fracture without tilting of the femoral head |
aligned in pelvis, femoral head and femoral neck |
complete subcapital |
II |
femoral head tilts but the posterior retinacular attachment between femoral fragments are intact |
femoral head lamellae rotated medially |
complete subcapital with partial displacement |
III |
complete separation of femoral head from the distal elements, with femoral head returning to a more "normal" position |
aligned in pelvis and femoral head but not in femoral neck |
complete subcapital with full displacement |
IV |
At any stage there is some risk of progression to the next higher stage if no intervention is taken.
Specialty: Surgery, orthopedic, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Surgery, general
ICD-10: ,