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Speedy surgery after hip fractures did not significantly improve one-year results
Jakma TSC. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2011. doi: 10.1007/s00068-011-0120-7.
Operating on patients within 24 hours of hip fracture did not significantly improve results in terms of mortality or reoperations at 1 year, according to a retrospective analysis.
Two performance indicators for hip fracture treatment have been recently implemented in The Netherlands, according to T.S.C. Jakma, MD, and colleagues at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, The Netherlands. According to these indicators, surgery within 24 hours of admission for hip fracture improves 1-year outcomes for mortality and reoperation.
The researchers retrospectively evaluated 941 consecutive hip fracture patients operated on between January 2003 and December 2006 to evaluate these performance indicators. They calculated the mortality rate and number of reoperations. They were able to determine whether patients were operated on within 24 hours of admission in the 379 patients admitted between June 2005 and December 2006.
At 1 year, there was an overall 21% mortality rate and an 8% reoperation rate. The subgroup analysis revealed no significant difference in mortality or reoperations regardless of whether the patient was operated on within 24 hours of admission or not, the authors wrote.