BACKGROUND: Proximal femoral nail anti-rotation (PFNA) is a standard femoral intertrochanteric fracture operation. Iatrogenic vascular injury, although uncommon, is a reported complication of PFNA surgery as well as a complication of hip fracture surgery. This study aimed to compare the safety and best use of the distal locking screw in 170 mm PFNA and 240 mm PFNA devices, and to determine the safe region for placement of the distal locking screw in PFNA surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 100 patients with 170 mm PFNA and 80 patients with 240 mm PFNA were retrospectively analyzed. Two levels of PFNA distal locking screws were equally divided into three planes: I, II, III, for 170 mm PFNA devices and i, ii, iii for the 240 mm PRNA devices. The medial half of the femur was equally divided into eight regions: A to H. The distance between the outer femur and the superficial, the deep and the perforating femoral arteries (SFAs, DFAs, and PFAs), and angles between the reference line and the connection line between the femur center to each artery were measured.

RESULTS: SFAs and DFAs but not PFAs were found in risky or hazardous regions, and DFAs were obviously closer to the femur than SFAs and PFAs at the same level. In the region within 10 mm of the femur, no SFAs were found. The short nails (170 mm PFNA-II devices) were the closest to the DFAs region, indicating that the 170 mm PFNA-II nails are most likely to cause special vessel injury. The short nails were relatively more distant from the SFAs, which were located posteriorly to the long nails (240 mm PFNA-II).

CONCLUSIONS: The distal locking screw of the 170 mm PFNA device was more prone to damage the femoral deep artery when the two types of PFNA devices are compared in patients who were candidates for both types of devices.

Keywords: Bone Screws, Femoral Artery, Femoral Fractures, Safety