The Hip Fracture Surgical Approach Trial

Femoral neck fractures are mostly treated with a hemiarthroplasty, where the fractured femoral head is replaced with a metal implant. The most common surgical approach to hemiarthroplasty has been the lateral approach, in which the gluteus medius tendon is partially released from the greater trochanter. Hip pain and limping is not uncommon after this approach has been used. A new surgical approach (SPAIRE) has been developed to alleviate this problem, and in this method the surgeon approaches the injured hip joint from posterior, preserving most of the muscles and tendons around the hip. This trial is designed to assess if this new SPAIRE approach leads to better results than the lateral approach in patients with femoral neck fractures.