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Admission to medicine service linked with longer hospital stay for geriatric patients with hip fractures
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Research from a level 1 trauma center indicated geriatric patients with hip fractures admitted to the medicine service were more likely to have longer hospital stays than those admitted to the orthopedic service.
In the retrospective study, researchers used CPT codes to identify 614 geriatric patients with low-energy hip fractures who were admitted between 2000 and 2009. Of these patients, 49.2% were admitted to the orthopedic service and 50.8% were admitted to the medicine service. Investigators compared the patient demographics, preoperative comorbidities, type of surgical interventions and length of stay among patients admitted to the medicine vs. the orthopedic service.
Findings showed patients in the orthopedic service were younger than those admitted to the medicine service (77.5 years vs. 81 years). Investigators noted patients admitted to orthopedics had a median length of stay of 4.5 days, whereas the median length of stay was 7 days for those admitted to the medicine service.
According to researchers, patients admitted to the medicine service had a significantly higher readmission rate compared with patients admitted to orthopedics (29.8% vs. 23.1%). After patient factors were controlled, investigators found patients admitted to the medicine service were more likely to stay 50% longer than orthopedic patients. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: Greenberg reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
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