I compared the effects of early weight-bearing on the stability of
femoral neck fractures following Knowles-pin fixation with data on a
similar group of patients who were studied ten years previously, in which
weight-bearing had been delayed until radiographic evidence of
fracture-healing was apparent. The results concerning stability were
essentially comparable, indicating that early weight-bearing did not
adversely affect the stability of a properly reduced and pinned displaced
fracture of the femoral neck. Factors that did adversely affect stability
following fixation with Knowles pins included the degree of initial
displacement of the fracture (Garden Type IV), failure to adequately reduce
or fix the fracture, and severe demineralizing bone disease as measured in
an iliac-crest biopsy specimen obtained at the time of surgery.