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 fracturesMETHODS: 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 procedureRESULTS: 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) CONCLUSION: 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.

What Are the Factors Contributing to the Delay in Hip Fracture Repair?

“…In a study conducted by Gomes et al (2015), physicians explored whether age influenced the delay between diagnosis of hip fracture and surgical intervention. Onehundred and sixty-one adult patients were included in this study: 37 aged 17-59 years and 124 aged 60 and older.…”