title: Influence of age on delayed surgical treatment of proximal femoral fractures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  : To investigate the influence of patients' age on the delay between diagnosis and surgical treatment of proximal femoral fractures.
  
  
  METHODS
  : This is a retrospective study, con-ducted at a tertiary university hospital, including all patients admitted with proximal femoral fractures between March 2013 and March 2014. The participants were categorized into four groups according to age levels. The groups were compared according to demographics, comorbidities, fracture type, trau-ma circumstances, and time between diagnosis and surgical procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  : One hundred and sixty one patients were included, 37 adults and 124 elderly. Among adults, the mean delay between diagnosis and surgical procedure was 6.4±5.3 days; among elderly the delay was 9.5±7.6 days. There was a progressive increase in the delay from the young-adults group through the elderly individuals (Kruskal-Wallis: 13.7; p=0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  : In spite of being the patients most susceptible to complications due to surgical delay, the elderly individuals pre-sented the longest delays from admission to surgical treatment. Level of Evidence III, Retrospective Study.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Multi-professional Residency in Elderly Health, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lisiane Pinto
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Multi-professional Residency in Elderly Health, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leandra Delfim
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: do Nascimento
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina, Department of the Locomotor System, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil; Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Hospital Risoleta Tolentino Neves, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tulio Vinicius de Oliveira
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Hospital Risoleta Tolentino Neves, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edson Barreto
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Paiva
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina, Department of the Locomotor System, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Antonio Percope
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: de Andrade
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Hospital Risoleta Tolentino Neves, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Henrique Cerqueira
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Guimarães
keywords: Aged; Comorbidity; Hip fractures; Orthopedics