Influence of preoperative medical status and delay to surgery on death following a hip fracture.
BACKGROUND
A retrospective study of 138 patients with fractured hips was undertaken to determine if a delay to surgery beyond 24 h influenced 1-year mortality. In particular, the results of the subgroup of patients who were in the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Class 3 or 4 were considered.


METHODS
Patients were found using ICD-9 database information. One-year mortality data was collected from Births, Deaths and Marriages -- the New Zealand government agency that collects and stores statistics on these events.


RESULTS
The 1-year mortality rate was 17.4%. Age, operation type and time to surgery did not significantly affect 1-year mortality. American Society of Anesthesiologists' Class 1 and 2 patients had a significantly lower 1-year mortality (5.3%) than ASA Class 3 and 4 patients (22.4%) (P = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Time to surgery did not significantly affect 1-year mortality within each ASA Class.
Department of Surgery, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington South, New Zealand.
Julian
J
Stoddart
Geoffrey
G
Horne
Peter
P
Devane
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors