Influence of the timing of surgery on mortality and activity of hip fracture in elderly patients.
BACKGROUND
Existing reports describe the decline of the mortality rate by conducting surgery for hip fractures within 24 h; however, the theory is still controversial. We have compared the perioperative mortality rate, improvement of mobility, and duration of hospital stay for early surgery (within 24 h) and delayed surgery (beyond 24 h) between two groups.


METHODS
We studied 536 cases of proximal femoral fracture in patients >60 years who were treated between September 2003 and December 2006. There were 91 men and 445 women, who had a total of 257 femoral neck fractures and 279 trochanteric fractures. In all, 270 patients were operated on within 24 h after injury and were defined as the early group; 266 patients were treated surgically more than 24 hours after injury and were defined as the delayed group. Based on admission laboratory tests, co-morbidity, dementia, preoperative mobility, and residential environment before injury, we compared the duration of hospital stay, mobility at discharge, and mortality rates between the early group and the delayed group.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference in duration of hospital stay between the two groups. Improvement of mobility was 52% in the early group and 41% in the delayed group, with the difference being significant (P < 0.05). Inpatient mortality rate was 5.6% in the early group and 2.6% in the delayed group, but the difference was not significant. In the early group, men with co-morbidity, dementia, and abnormal laboratory values upon admission showed a significantly higher mortality rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Early surgery was useful for improving mobility, but it showed a higher mortality rate in patients with a compromised somatic condition at the time of the injury. For independent patients with a stabilized somatic condition, surgery should be performed within 24 h. For unstable cases, we believe it is better to provide early surgery after stabilizing the patient's condition to the greatest possible extent.
Orthopaedic Department, Higashi Totsuka Memorial Hospital, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Toshiro
T
Yonezawa
Ken
K
Yamazaki
Takashi
T
Atsumi
Shu
S
Obara
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005592:Fracture Fixation / Q000401:mortality* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors