This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Added preoperative tests linked to longer time to surgery in geriatric patients with hip fractures
Results from this study showed additional preoperative testing of geriatric hip fracture patients correlated with greater length of hospital stay and time to surgery; however, testing did not influence the care patients received.
Researchers reviewed 389 charts for 250 geriatric patients admitted from the emergency department and underwent surgery for proximal femur fractures. Investigators categorized patients as to whether they required additional preoperative testing. Data recorded included the time of presentation and time of surgery in order to yield the time to surgery interval for each patient. Investigators also reported any tests requested, test results and length of hospital stay.
Results showed of the 250 patients, 67 had additional preoperative testing. The mean time to surgery for patients who had additional testing was 73.2 hours vs. 37.2 hours for those who did not undergo additional testing. Investigators noted 42 patients of the 67 who had additional testing had time-to-surgery intervals greater than 48 hours. Patients who needed additional tests had a mean length of stay of 12.01 days compared with 9.01 days for patients who did not have additional tests.
“In only two of the 67 tested patients was further care offered based on the test result,” the researchers wrote. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.