[Fatigue fractures of the femoral neck and pubic rami. Analytical and critical study apropos of 97 case reports from the literature and 5 personal cases].

This investigation involved a study of fatigue fractures of the neck of the femur and of the pubic branches based on the one hand on 97 cases from the literature, which were diagnosed mainly on radio-clinical criteria, and on the other hand on 5 personal cases for which a quantitative histological analysis was undertaken by needle biopsy of the bone of the iliac wing. After describing these fatigue fractures in an unusual site, the authors undertake a critical study taking account of the histological information that was available. They show that only a histological study makes it possible to differentiate clearly fatigue fractures from insufficiency fractures, particularly when the later occur concurrently with a clinically and radiologically latent osteoporosis.