ROLE OF BONE MINERAL DENSITY MEASUREMENT BY CALCANEAL ULTRASOUND IN HIP FRACTURE

Objective: To find out the frequency of osteoporosis in patients with hip fracture as measured by Quantitative Ultrasound of Calcaneal Bone. Material and Methods: We scanned 68 patients randomly with Sahara Clinical Bone Sonometer from Orthopedic Department of Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar with low energy hip fracture in male and females of age 30 and above. The study took six months from January2004 to June 2004. Two main variables in the study were the age and sex. The patients were grouped separately for either sex according to their ages and then divided into age groups as; young age (30-49 years), middle age (50-69 years) and old age (70years & above). Results: Out of total sixty eight patients with fracture of the hip, 52 were female and 16 were male. Out of the 52(76.47%) female, 36(69.23%) were osteoporotic and 16(30.77%) were osteopenic. In the remaining 16(23.52%) male patients 9(56.25%) were osteoporotic and 7(43.75%) were osteopenic. Thus there is a strong association between hip fracture and osteoporosis that exists in these patients. Conclusion: Most of the patients who sustain hip fracture have associated underlying osteoporosis, which if not treated can result in further fragility fractures.