Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35904634›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie2023

Atypical femur fractures associated with bisphosphonate therapy: post-operative outcomes.

Benjamin Murphy, Sam L Francis, Isaac Rhee, Sina Babazadeh, James Stoney, Jarrad Stevens

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Article in European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Molecular-level understanding of the aging bone and regeneration mechanisms using computational methods.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Benjamin MurphyDepartment of Orthopaedics, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Sam L FrancisDepartment of Orthopaedics, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Isaac RheeDepartment of Orthopaedics, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Sina BabazadehDepartment of Orthopaedics, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
James StoneyDepartment of Orthopaedics, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Jarrad StevensDepartment of Orthopaedics, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. drjarradstevens@hotmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6432-3242
St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne · AUThe University of Melbourne · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeBisphosphonates are commonly used medication for the treatment of osteoporosis, and a well-established complication of this medication is bisphosphonate-associated atypical femur fractures (BAAFFs). The aim of this study was to assess the post-operative functional and radiographic outcomes of surgically treated BAAFFs.

methodsAn analysis of patients treated at a university-affiliated institution was performed. Patients who had undergone surgical fixation for a subtrochanteric or shaft of femur fracture which had been classified as atypical and treated with bisphosphonate therapy at the time of fracture were included. The outcome measures assessed included post-operative complications, length of stay, discharge destination, post-operative function, independence in activities of daily living (ADLs) and fracture union.

resultsTwenty patients were included in this study with a mean age of 75.2 years. The cohort was predominantly female. The average duration of bisphosphonate therapy was 7.35 years. Nine patients had contralateral bisphosphonate-related stress reactions at the time of their initial fracture and underwent prophylactic surgical intervention. The majority of patients received cephalomedullary nail fixation (95%) with more than half (65.0%) of the cohort experiencing one or more post-operative complications. The median length of stay was 6.5 days and 50% of the cohort required inpatient rehabilitation. At final review, independent mobilisation was recorded in only 10.0% of patients, and 70% of patients were dependent with their ADLs at their latest follow-up. Average follow-up was 8 months, and only six cases demonstrated union at the six-month review, with delayed union between 9 and 12 months being common.

conclusionPatients with BAAFFs experience high rates of complications, record poor post-operative functional outcomes, and demonstrate a delayed time to union. Nearly half of our cohort had radiographic evidence of bilateral pathology.

Indexed as

Bone Density Conservation AgentsFemoral FracturesActivities of Daily LivingAgedDiphosphonatesFemaleFemurHumansMaleRetrospective StudiesTreatment OutcomeBone Density Conservation AgentsDiphosphonatesAtypical femoral fractureBisphosphonateFunctional outcomeRadiological outcome

Identifiers

PMID35904634
OpenAlexW4288696718

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.