When it was announced that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California had broken his femur while skiing three days ago, I was a little puzzled. Ordinarily someone with such a fracture is not discharged from the hospital - and yet that was the report. It would have to have been an unusual femur fracture for a patient to schedule surgery on a delayed basis and return home while awaiting the procedure.
Apparently it was a fairly typical fracture managed for three days in untypical fashion. Mr. Schwarzenegger returned to LA yesterday and was admitted, undergoing surgery today.
The 59-year-old governor, actor and former bodybuilder was scheduled for surgery Tuesday morning in Los Angeles to repair his fractured right femur, which he broke while skiing with his family in Sun Valley, Idaho, during the weekend.
"As is standard for this type of surgery, the governor will be kept for observation for three days," said Dr. Kevin Ehrhart, the orthopedic surgeon performing the surgery.
Ehrhart, who repaired former President Reagan's broken hip in 2001, said Schwarzenegger's recovery would take about eight weeks and cables and screws would be used to secure his upper right thigh bone.
"Cables and screws" and "upper right thigh bone" would likely indicate a proximal femoral shaft fracture or a subtrochanteric femur fracture. It would indeed be extremely unusual for a patient to be discharged to home while awaiting surgery on one of those fractures, due primarily to difficulty with pain management and mobility, and due to the increased risk of complications like blood clots, and continued blood loss.
A greater trochanter fracture can be repaired with a cable plate, and that is one type of proximal femur fracture that could wait. While it could be this type of fracture - and should be, given the discharge home - the description in the story does not read like this simpler problem.
