The impact of sequential therapy from short-term teriparatide to denosumab compared with denosumab alone in patients with osteoporotic hip fracture: a 1-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND: Sequential therapy from bone-forming medication to resorptive agents is reportedly effective for patients with severe osteoporosis. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of implementing short-term teriparatide (TPTD) intervention before denosumab (DMab) therapy compared with DMab therapy alone for 1 year after hip fracture. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and radiographs of patients who were treated due to osteoporotic hip fracture. TPTD was administered to 22 patients for an average of 12.1 weeks after which the intervention was switched to DMab therapy for 12 months (group 1). DMab alone was administered to 16 patients for 12 months (group 2). Bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated before and after treatment at the 1-year follow-up. The improvement of BMD in hip and spine was compared with the levels of bone turnover marker. RESULTS: The difference in femoral neck BMD was 0.005 ± 0.04 in group 1 and − 0.014 ± 0.10 in group 2 (p = 0.442). The difference of spine BMD was 0.043 ± 0.05 in group 1 and 0.052 ± 0.06 in group 2 (p = 0.640). BMD of the spine improved significantly in groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.001, p = 0.002). There was no statistical difference in C-terminal telopeptide and osteocalcin level. CONCLUSION: Short-term TPTD administration followed by DMab alone was effective only in improving spine BMD. Short-term treatment with TPTD caused mild improvement in femur neck BMD compared with DMab alone. However, further research with a longer duration of TPTD treatment is warranted, as our findings lack statistical significance.