ABSTRACT
Minimally invasive hip surgery is a poorly defined, heterogeneous group of procedures that aim to limit soft-tissue dissection, and while some centres define 'minimal incision' surgery as surgery involving a wound less than 10 cm. Opponents argue that minimally invasive (MI) approaches are associated with increased iatrogenic nerve injury, prosthesis malposition and increased revision rates, all of these due to the limited field of vision during the surgery. One of the arguments for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is that a smaller incision and approach equates to less soft-tissue trauma and therefore a faster recovery. The experimental basis for MIS in trauma surgery is the work of Rhinelander, who showed that two-thirds of the blood supply to the bone is via the nutrient artery and one-third comes from the inflow of the periosteum. Surgical fixation of femoral intertrochanteric fractures can be undertaken with standard devices using a MI approach, specifically designed MI implants or MIS techniques.
