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Hip Fractures and Critical Information that you Need to Know when you or your Parents are Injured

Hip fractures and broken hips can result from a many different types of accidents. A hip fracture is a common injury occurring in older adults. Hip fractures most commonly occur from a slip or trip and fall on loose rugs, poor lighting, exposed electrical or phone cords or lack of handrails. For you or your child, a hip fracture can result in severe and chronic pain and will almost always require surgery to repair. If you or your loved one has suffered a fractured hip as a result of an accident or another person's negligence, the attorneys at the law firm of Decker, Decker, Dito & Internicola, LLP can help you.

A broken hip, or a hip fracture, is a common injury, especially in elderly individuals. In the United States, hip fractures are the most common broken bone that requires hospitalization; about 300,000 Americans are hospitalized for a hip fracture every year.

How do hip fractures happen?
Hip fractures in the elderly are most often caused by a traumatic event such as a fall or by having weak bones. In younger patients with stronger bones, more common causes of a broken hip include high-stress injuries such as car accidents or falls from scaffold or ladders.
Hip fractures are generally separated into two types of fractures, Femoral Neck Fractures and Intertrochauteric Hip Fractures.

Femoral Neck Fractures
A femoral neck fracture occurs when the ball of the ball-and-socket hip joint is fractured off the femur, or thigh bone. The femoral neck is located in the upper portion of your femur, just below its head, which is the ball part of the ball-and-socket joint. When a femoral neck fracture occurs, the ball is disconnected from the rest of the femur.
Treatment of a femoral neck fracture depends on the age of the patient and the amount of displacement of the fracture. The important issue with femoral neck fractures is that the blood supply to the fractured portion of bone is often disrupted by the injury. Because blood flow is diminished by the fracture, these fractures are at high risk of not healing, especially when the fracture is badly displaced. Due to the problem blood supply with femoral neck fractures, many of these fractures may be treated by a partial or total hip replacement.

Doctors repair this type of fracture by one of three methods:
? Metal screws and plates. If, after the break, the bone is still properly aligned, your doctor may insert metal screws into the fractured bone to hold it together while the fracture heals. This type of repair is called internal fixation.
? Replacement of part of the femur. If the ends of the broken bone aren't properly aligned or they've been damaged, your orthopedic surgeon may remove the head and neck of the femur and replace them with a metal prosthesis. This is known as hemiarthroplasty, or a partial hip replacement.
? Total hip replacement. This operation involves replacing your upper femur and the socket in your pelvic bone with a prosthetic.

Intertrochauteric Hip Fractures
An intertrochanteric hip fracture occurs just below the femoral neck. This region is the portion of your upper femur that juts outward. These fractures are more often repaired through surgical means more often than femoral neck fractures. The usual surgical treatment involves placement of a plate and screws to stabilize the fractures, or internal fixation. To repair this type of fracture, your orthopedic surgeon will insert a metal screw across the fracture site. The screw is attached to a metal plate that runs down alongside the femur and is attached with other screws to help keep the bone stable and aligned while the fracture heals together.
A hip fracture is a serious injury, particularly if you're older, and complications can be life-threatening. Fortunately, the surgery to repair a hip fracture is usually very effective, although recovery after the surgery often requires time and physical rehabilitation.

What are the signs and symptoms of a hip fracture?
? Severe pain in your hip or groin
? Inability to put weight on your leg on the side of your injured hip
? Stiffness, bruising and swelling in and around your hip area
? Shorter leg on the side of your injured hip
? Turning outward of your leg on the side of your injured hip.

An X-ray will confirm that you have a fracture and show exactly what part of your hip is fractured. Your orthopedic surgeon will then be able to formulate a plan for the treatment of your fractured hip.
A hip fracture is a serious injury. Although the fracture itself is treatable, the complications that may result can be life-threatening. You may develop a blood clot after hip surgery because you are immobile and you don't get up and try to move around very much. It's possible for this blood clot to become lodged in a pulmonary artery, blocking blood flow to lung tissue, known as an embolism, can be fatal. Other risks of being immobile include bedsores, urinary tract infection, pneumonia and muscle atrophy.

Hospital stays after hip fracture surgery generally last less than a week. Afterward, you may continue to undergo physical therapy. For the elderly, extended care facility stays are often required as they are unable to bear weight on their hip after the surgery and require round the clock assistance.

If you or a loved one has suffered a hip fracture, make sure that they receive appropriate medical care with an orthopedic surgeon; maintain records of the medical treatment; always avoid speaking with any insurance adjusters before you speak to a personal injury attorney; and if you or a loved one has suffered a bone injury or fractured hip fracture, you need the advice of an experienced Staten Island, New York personal injury attorney. Call Frank J. Dito, Jr. today at (800) 310-5520 for your free consultation.

                                                                                                       
Frank J. Dito, Jr., Esq. a member of the "Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum", is an experienced trial attorney who represents injured individuals and their families. Frank is the author of "A Lawyers Guide to Car Insurance" , the publisher of the "New York Injury Law Blog" and he is a frequent speaker regarding the recovery of benefits and the preservation of rights resulting from accidents and work place injuries. If you or a family member has been injured in an accident or in the work place contact Frank J. Dito, Jr. to discuss your legal rights and how he assists clients in obtaining the benefits and compensation that they are entitled to.