NEW YORK -- As Baby Boomers continue to age, (they’re turning 60 this year!) the incidence of intertrochanteric hip fractures will undoubtedly rise as well. This comes as no surprise as the post-World War II generation is the largest and by far, the most active group of elders that has ever lived.

And while the treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures remains controversial, a new device called the Percutaneous Compression Plate or PCCP was designed to minimize the surgical trauma to a patient and improve functional outcomes.

The PCCP device is inserted through two small one inch incisions resulting in less blood loss than the more conventional treatment. Patients also experience less pain and are able to return to normal activity in far less time due to the minimally-invasive procedure.

Mount Sinai Department of Orthopaedics has started a clinical study that had begun under the careful watch of its faculty member Dr. Edward Yang at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, to compare the treatment using the PCCP with the standard sliding hip screw procedure. Currently, there are over fifty patients participating in the study at Elmhurst Hospital. Patients who consent to the study will be randomly assigned a treatment. It is only through a time consuming, scientific study of the new vs. existing methods of treatment that benefits of the PCCP can be fully identified.

“Having already used the PCCP device successfully at Elmhurst Hospital, I am very excited to begin studying the in patients at Mount Sinai,” commented Dr. Edward C. Yang, who is the Director of Orthopaedics at Elmhurst Hospital and a senior faculty member of the Orthopaedics Department at Mount Sinai.

The Department of Orthopaedics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine is committed to the treatment and prevention of physical handicaps in all patients, the furthering of orthopedic knowledge through research, and to the teaching of medical students and orthopaedic residents. The entire staff is deeply involved in the accomplishment of these goals.

For further information about the Mount Sinai Department of Orthopaedics or to arrange an interview with Dr. Edward C. Yang and/or a recipient of the new PCCP procedure, please call (212) 843-8073.