Objective:

To report the incidence of pathological fractures secondary to metastasis at a national referral hospital during a 5-year period.

Methods:

Total admissions to our center were recorded, together with the patients who met the requirement of having a proximal femur fracture in a pathological area. The potential number of beneficiaries was estimated based on official figures and the hospital's area of influence. The annual incidence rate and the incidence density were calculated using the latter data.

Results:

98 fractures were identified in 95 patients. The calculated incidence density was 0.70/100,000 population during the observation period. Fifty-four female patients and 41 male patients were included. Mean age was 65.3 years, with a very wide age range (18-90 years). Most patients had metastasis of solid tumors. Twenty-nine percent of patients were treated conservatively and the rest of them required surgery that included from osteosynthesis to prosthetic arthroplasty. The mean length of stay was over one week.

Conclusions:

The reported incidence of this type of fractures is relatively low. We found a wide variety of anatomical origins and locations. As of now, it is not possible to generalize the treatment or predict the survival.