Introduction: Proximal femur fractures are common and dangerous in older adults, given the high short-term mortality rate. While surgical treatment is vital, medical orthogeriatric care may reduce the 6-month mortality rate; however, this has not been determined on a broad scale in France. This led us to conduct a retrospective study to answer the following questions: (1) Does delayed surgical treatment impact the 6-month mortality rate? (2) Are there correctable medical factors that impact the 6-month mortality?
Hypothesis: Delayed surgical treatment is not an isolated risk factor for higher 6-month mortality after proximal femur fracture.
Methods: We included all patients 75 years or older who had suffered a proximal femur fracture requiring surgical treatment. This allowed us to analyze the medical records of 476 patients retrospectively. We documented their comorbidities and pre-, intra- and postoperative characteristics. A univariate then multivariate analysis was done to identify risk factors for mortality at 6 months.
Results: In the univariate analysis, time to surgery of more than 48hours increased the risk of dying at 6 months by 1.5 fold (Odds ratio (OR)=1.57/95% CI: 1-2.48/p=0.04). However, this risk factor was not significant in the multivariate analysis since it is not an independent risk factor. In the multivariate analysis, anticoagulants (OR=2/95% CI: 1.13-3.50/p=0.02), dementia (OR=2.2/95% CI: 1.32-3.59/p=0.002), peripheral artery disease (OR=2.9/95% CI: 1.10-7.70/p=0.03), 2-point drop in hemoglobin count from preoperative to postoperative (OR=1.9/95% CI: 1.05-3.12/p=0.04), male sex (OR=1.82/95% CI: 1.05-3.12/p=0.04), age above 85 years (OR=5.26/95% CI: 1.49-5.26/p=0.002) and Charlson comorbidity index≥7 (OR=2.13/95% CI: 1.29-3.52/p=0.003) were statistically associated with mortality at 6 months.
Discussion/conclusion: Our study found that the patients most at risk for dying within 6 months of a hip fracture were males, older than 85 and have associated medical conditions (Charlson index≥7). Prior anticoagulant treatment increases the time to surgery in our study and therefore increases the risk of these patients dying within 6 months. Treatment of these at-risk patients should ensure that their underlying medical conditions are not made worse, while providing treatment within 48hours. Patients taking anticoagulants must be monitored carefully to ensure surgical treatment is not delayed.
Level of evidence: IV, retrospective study without control group.
Keywords: Comorbidities; Elderly patients; Hip fractures; Mortality at 6 months; Risk factors.
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