Comparison of efficacy, complications and TGF-β2 expression between DHS and PFNA in elderly patients with osteoporotic femoral intertrochanteric fracture

The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and complications of two fixation techniques, namely dynamic hip screw (DHS) and proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA), in the treatment of osteoporotic femoral intertrochanteric fracture in elderly patients, and to detect changes in transforming growth factor β2 (TGF-β2) expression in the two groups. A total of 100 elderly patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture were randomly divided into two groups that were treated with either DHS or PFNA. Peri-operative complications were observed in the patients and ELISA was used to detect TGF-β2 expression levels at 1, 7, 15 and 30 days after surgical treatment. The clinical efficacy and the incidence rate of complications at 3 months after the operation were compared. In comparison with the DHS group, the PFNA group had a shorter operation time, a lower bleeding volume and a shorter post-operative weight-bearing time. The contents of TGF-β2 in the two groups at 7 days after the operation were higher than those at 1 day, reached a peak at 15 days and had gradually decreased again at 30 days after the operation. The contents of TGF-β2 at 1, 7 and 15 days in the PFNA group were higher than those at the identical time-points in the DHS group (P<0.01). Regarding the clinical efficacy in the two groups at 3 months of post-surgery, the rate of excellent/good efficacy in the PFNA fixation group (90.0%) was higher than that in the DHS fixation group (74.0%). Of note, PFNA fixation had a higher clinical efficacy, a shorter operation time, less intra-operative trauma, a relatively faster fracture healing process and fewer complications in comparison with DHS fixation, and is therefore more suitable for treating osteoporotic femoral intertrochanteric fracture in the elderly. PFNA fixation is superior to DHS fixation, which may be associated with the higher level of TGF-β2 expression in comparison with that in the DHS group.