Hip fracture treatment in Oulu--one-year survey with four-month follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
The standardized forms of the Standardized Audit of Hip Fractures in Europe (SAHFE) are aimed for the evaluation of hip fracture treatment in different hospitals and countries. The purpose was to evaluate and characterize a cohort of hip fracture patients with these forms and to evaluate their value in quality control.


METHODS
The non-pathological hip fractures in patients over 49 years of age treated in the Oulu University Hospital were prospectively recorded during a one-year period using SAHFE forms.


RESULTS
There were 238 (52 male and 186 female) patients with a mean age of 78 (50-102) years. Fifty-nine percent of the patients were admitted from their own homes. Fifty-seven percent were able to walk alone outdoors and 48% could walk without walking aids before the fracture. A hundred and fifty patients had cervical fractures and 88 trochanteric fractures. The most frequent treatment of cervical fractures was Austin-Moore hemiarthroplasty (68%) and that of trochanteric fractures Gamma nail fixation (86%). At four months after the fracture, 50% lived in their own homes, 33% could walk alone outdoors and 13% could walk without any aids. Thirty-two percent had no pain in the hip. The overall mortality at four months was 17.6% and that of the operated patients 16.2%. The reoperation rate was 8.5%.


CONCLUSIONS
SAHFE forms were very useful in the evaluation of the quality of the hip fracture treatment.
Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, University of Oulu, Finland.
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I
Saarenpää
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T
Heikkinen
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Partanen
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P
Jalovaara
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D016896:Treatment Outcome