Case Reports
Failure of the Vari-Angle Hip Screw System: Two Cases
Am J Orthop. 2008 November;37(11):575-576
Author and Disclosure Information
Philip Daniel Nowicki, MD, and Gregory Minas Georgiadis, MD
Dr. Nowicki is Resident Physician, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio.
Dr. Georgiadis is the Director of Orthopaedic Trauma Services at the Toledo Hospital, Toledo, Ohio.
Abstract not available. Introduction provided instead.
Peritrochanteric hip fractures are among the more common fractures treated by orthopedic surgeons. The compression hip screw (CHS) was a significant advance in the treatment of these injuries. However, this classic implant now has several modifications,1 including the Vari-Angle Hip Screw System (VHS®; Biomet Trauma, Warsaw, Ind). The CHS and the VHS are based on the same principles, but with the VHS the neck-shaft angle of the side plate can be varied during surgery, which means that not as much inventory is required.2
The literature includes few reports on the VHS, and the manufacturer asserted that its biomechanical studies have failed to show any failures of the variable-angle side-plate mechanism.2 Here we report 2 cases in which the VHS failed by varus angulation of the side plate after insertion.