A simple percutaneous technique to reduce valgus-impacted femoral neck fractures

The mainstream surgery for valgus-impacted femoral neck fractures (FNFs) is closed reduction and internal fixation under fluoros-copy. However, femoral neck shortening and anterior femoroacetabular impingement are common complications in healed valgus-impacted FNFs after in situ fixation. Some methods have been reported to prevent complications, but these techniques require the use of a transfixing guide wire that passes through the femoral head, which may cause articular cartilage damage. We introduce a simple reduction technique using one Steinmann pin (S-pin) for valgus-impacted FNFs without any interference of the femur head. A S-pin was placed percutaneously at the inferomedial margin of the fracture, and reduction was achieved by applying manual val-gus force along the fracture line. By restoring the anatomical alignment, we confirmed the maximum contact area of the fracture and connection of the medial cortical buttress, so the risk of nonunion was also minimized.