Extracapsular Fractures

Extracapsular fractures include:

• Trochanteric
• Transtrochanteric/Intertrochanteric
• Subtrochanteric

There are many different classifications of trochanteric fractures but when describing the fracture, perhaps the most useful is to describe the number of parts that the femur has been divided into:

• A two-part fracture is a single fracture line across the trochanteric region (Fig 1)
• A three-part fracture is a comminuted fracture across the trochanteric region with the greater or lesser trochanter fractured (Fig 2)
• A four-part fracture is similar to a three-part fracture, but with fractures of both the greater and lesser trochanters (Fig 3)