Question

What is the device/implant shown in the following picture, used for femur neck fracture?

• A. Condylar plate
• B. Dynamic condylar screw
• C. Dynamic hip screw
• D. Locking plate

Hint:

A big lag screw up the femoral neck joined to a side plate by a sliding barrel is the workhorse “sliding” hip implant.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Identify the implant from the X-ray. The radiograph of the proximal femur shows a large lag screw passing up the femoral neck into the head, connected to a side plate fixed to the femoral shaft by cortical screws, with a barrel through which the lag screw can slide. This sliding-screw-and-plate construct is the Dynamic Hip Screw (DHS).

Step 2: Why Dynamic Hip Screw (Option C) is correct. The DHS is the standard implant for extracapsular proximal femoral / femoral neck and intertrochanteric fractures. Its design allows the lag screw to telescope ("slide") within the barrel, producing controlled compression (dynamisation) at the fracture site during weight-bearing, which promotes union. The angle of the screw within the neck and the plate on the lateral shaft are characteristic and match the image.

Step 3: Why the other options are wrong.
• Condylar plate (A) (e.g. blade plate) is used for distal femur / condylar fractures, not the femoral neck, and has a fixed blade rather than a sliding neck screw.
• Dynamic Condylar Screw (DCS) (B) is essentially a DHS-type device angled for the distal femur (supracondylar) region, not the hip.
• Locking plate (D) is a plate with threaded screw holes giving fixed-angle stability; it does not have the single large sliding neck lag screw seen here.

Final answer: C (Dynamic Hip Screw).