In all cases of ununited fractures of the neck of the femur, where the head is viable, the high oblique osteotomy offers the simplest and most satisfactory method of treatment. By the operative technique described it is possible to determine the exact level of the osteotomy, thereby saving the length of the femur and ensuring security of the head on the end of the distal fragment. In a series of twenty-six patients treated by this procedure, twenty-two showed good results,—namely, satisfactory motion in the hip and knee, union of the ununited fracture, a minimum of shortening, and the ability to return to former occupations.
Whereas the osteotomy has been employed in the treatment of ununited fractures of the femoral neck since 1923, the first use of the high oblique osteotomy as described in this paper was in January 1935, and the last patient in this series was operated upon in January 1940.