Atypical Femoral Fractures Associated with Long-Term Treatment with Bisphosphonates

• Autor(a) principal: Flores Santos, Francisco
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Pinheiro da Silva, José, Felicíssimo, Paulo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/4323

Introduction: Long-term treatment with bisphosphonates has been associated to atypical femoral fractures whose features are now clearly defined.Clinical Cases: We present two cases of female patients under bisphosphonate treatment for over 10 years who were admitted to our institution for subtrochanteric and femoral shaft fractures after low-energy trauma. They presented, respectively, a transverse and a short oblique femoral fracture, with thickening of the lateral cortex. They underwent surgical treatment obtaining good functional and imaging result.Discussion: These cases fulfill the established criteria for atypical femoral fracture, thereby illustrating a serious adverse event of long-term treatment with bisphosphonates. Such relationship has still not been clearly established by scientific evidence. However, its effectiveness in preventing osteoporotic fractures is well proven.Conclusion: The atypical femoral fractures are possibly a serious adverse effect of the long-term treatment with bisphosphonates. Scientific evidence still supports its use, however, the physician must be aware of these events and closely follow-up these patients.