Postoperative Weight-Bearing after a Fracture of the Femoral Neck or an Intertrochanteric Fracture*

ABSTRACT: Sixty patients who had had operative treatment of a fracture of the femoral neck or an in-tertrochanteric fracture were allowed to bear weight as tolerated on the injured limb. The average age was seventy-seven years. Computerized gait-testing was per-formed at one, two, three, six, and twelve weeks postop-eratively to quantify weight-bearing. For the purpose of analysis, the patients were divided into three groups according to whether they had internal fixation of a stable fracture, internal fixation of an unstable fracture, or a primary hemiarthroplasty. Thirty-two patients completed the entire twelve-week study. The average amount of weight that these patients placed on the injured limb increased progres-sively with time. The average load supported by th