Treatment of unstable intertrochanteric hip fractures associated with spinal fractures. A treatment dilemma.

Treatment approaches to a patient with polytrauma comprising combined spinal and hip fractures need more careful planning than those for a patient with an isolated spinal or hip fracture. The patient in this case presentation had multiple burst fractures of the spine, but was neurologically intact. The spinal injuries were treated conservatively. The patient also had concomitant unstable intertrochanteric fractures of the hip, which were treated surgically. The presence of a thoracic or lumbar fracture, in addition to a hip or femur fracture, may require an altered therapeutic approach. We present an approach to treating this complex problem without the use of a fracture table.