Vancouver classification
Trauma and orthopaedics
Also known as: Vancouver-Klassifikation (periprothetische Femurfraktur) · Vancouver sınıflaması (periprostetik femur kırığı) · Vancouver classification (periprosthetic femoral fractures after hip replacement)
What it is for
Classifies femoral fractures around a hip replacement by fracture site, stability (fixation) of the femoral stem and quality of the surrounding bone stock.
Classification
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Type A | fracture in the trochanteric region: AG greater trochanter, AL lesser trochanter. |
| Type B1 | fracture around or just below the stem; stem well fixed. |
| Type B2 | fracture around or just below the stem; stem loose, bone stock adequate. |
| Type B3 | fracture around or just below the stem; stem loose with poor bone stock (marked comminution, osteolysis or bone loss). |
| Type C | fracture well below the tip of the stem. |
| 2025 update by the originators | proposes absorbing type C into B1, adding B1 subtypes (e.g. B1T transverse at the stem tip, B1S spiral or oblique) and calling a 'pseudo-AL' fracture of a cementless stem B2; check which version a report uses. |
Source
Fractures of the femur after hip replacement
Instr Course Lect 1995;44:293–304 (Duncan CP, Masri BA)
PMID: 7797866
- Edition
- Duncan & Masri 1995 (types A, B1–B3, C); refinements proposed by the originators in 2025 (J Bone Joint Surg Am 2026;108:553–563)
- Checked on
Summary of the published classification in our own words. Not a substitute for the original publication.
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