Prediction of femoral head avascular necrosis following femoral neck fracture: “pin-tract sign” of (99m)Tc-HDP pinhole bone scan after metallic fixation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predicting value of (99m)Tc-hydroxydiphosphonate (HDP) pinhole bone scan in development of osteonecrosis of femoral head (ONFH) in patients with femoral neck fracture after cannulated screw fixation. METHODS: Pinhole bone scan of patients with metallically fixed femoral neck fracture from 2001 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Initial pinhole bone scan was obtained within 2–3 weeks after surgery. Findings of initial pinhole bone scan were divided in to 4 groups. Group CU included cold defect in affected femoral head, group HU with no cold defect. Group PP with increased uptake along the inserted screws and group PN with no increased uptake along the inserted screws. More than 6 months of follow-up with pinhole bone scan and clinico-radiological evidence for ONFH was reviewed. RESULTS: 72 patients (mean age 54.01 years, male 22, female 50) were included. 19 patients were in group CU, 53 in group HU. 60 patients were in group PP, 12 in group PN. During the follow-up, 13 patients were diagnosed as ONFH. 9 (47.36%) patients in group CU developed ONFH and 4 (7.5%) in group HU. 4 (6.66%) patients in group PP developed ONFH and 9 (75%) in group PN. CONCLUSIONS: To predict ONFH of femoral head followed by neck fracture, many imaging techniques with variable results were known. In this study, cold defect in early postoperative pinhole bone scans could predict ONFH, and loss of increased uptake along screw inserted site could be a strong indicative sign of ONFH. Further evaluation with a larger population is necessary.