Hip
Hip fracture
Intracapsular hip fractures are classified by displacement, which determines whether the femoral head can be preserved with fixation or requires arthroplasty.
What you are actually deciding
The clinically actionable distinction is non-displaced versus displaced, and that two-group form is far more reliable than the full four-type Garden system. Fracture angle adds information about shear across the fracture, and comorbidity burden often matters more than either for the treatment decision.
Clinical calculator3
- CCI Calculator17 itemsCharlson Comorbidity IndexThe Charlson Comorbidity Index is a weighted checklist of 16 comorbid conditions that produces a comorbidity score of 0 to 33, to which up to 4 points are added for age, and which estimates 10-year survival at roughly 98% for a total of 0, 90% for 2, 53% for 4 and 21% for 5.
- Harris Hip Score CalculatorHarris Hip ScoreThe Harris Hip Score is a 100-point clinician-administered hip assessment combining 44 points for pain, 47 for function, 4 for absence of deformity and 5 for range of motion, where 90 or above is graded excellent and below 70 poor.
- Pauwels Calculator1 itemsPauwels Classification of Femoral Neck FracturesThe Pauwels classification grades an intracapsular femoral neck fracture by the angle between the fracture line and the horizontal plane on an anteroposterior radiograph — type I below 30°, type II from 30° to 50°, and type III above 50° — because the more vertical the fracture, the greater the shear component across it and the higher the risk of fixation failure.
Classification system2
- AO/OTA Classification3 itemsAO/OTA Fracture and Dislocation ClassificationThe AO/OTA classification gives every fracture an alphanumeric code in which the first digit is the bone, the second the segment and the letter the fracture type — extra-articular, partial articular or complete articular in an end segment, and simple, wedge or multifragmentary in a shaft — so that 32-A is a simple femoral shaft fracture and 43-C a complete articular pilon fracture.
- Garden Classification2 itemsGarden Classification of Femoral Neck FracturesThe Garden classification grades intracapsular femoral neck fractures into four types by the completeness of the fracture line and the degree of displacement on an anteroposterior radiograph, where types I and II are non-displaced and types III and IV are displaced.
Thresholds that apply here
Published change thresholds across the instruments above. Check the population matches your patient before using a value — a threshold derived in a different cohort will mislead you.
| Instrument | Type | Value | Subscale | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris Hip Score | MCID | ≈ 18 points | — | Total hip arthroplasty |
See the full threshold database for every instrument on the site.