Key result
Following hip fracture surgery in elderly patients, 19.0% were re-admitted within 3 months, with infection as the most common cause, and re-admitted patients had a 35.1% mortality rate.
Why the study?
What are the rates and reasons for re-admission following hip fracture surgery in elderly patients?
Observational (n=535)
Yes
What are the rates and reasons for re-admission following hip fracture surgery in elderly patients?
Elderly patients undergoing hip fracture surgery face high rates of re-admission and mortality, with medical issues like infection being the primary drivers of re-admission.
High re-admission and mortality after hip fracture surgery signal need for improved post-discharge care; leaves open optimal strategies to reduce infection-driven readmissions.
INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures in the elderly are a growing problem with a predicted incidence of 117,000 cases per year by 2016. Re-admission following a healthcare episode is an important outcome measure, which reflects non-fatal adverse events and indicates the natural history of disease. The purpose of this observational, multicentre audit was to examine rates and reasons for re-admission following hip fracture, to identify areas in the index admission and rehabilitation care that could be improved to prevent re-admission. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 535 patients (> 65 years old) in two district general hospitals in the UK who underwent hip fracture surgery were recruited into the study. RESULTS: Of the study cohort, 72 patients (13.5%) died during their index admission and 88 (19.0%) of 463 patients were re-admitted once within 3 months. Causes of re-admission were attributed to medical (54.8%), failure to rehabilitate (23.8%), orthopaedic (19.0%) and surgical (2.4%) reasons. Infection was the most common (31.0%) reason for re-admission and arguably the most treatable. During the 3-month postoperative period, the mortality rate was 21.3%, increasing in those re-admitted to 35.1% representing the frailty of this group of patients. CONCLUSIONS: High rates of re-admission are seen following discharge in elderly patients with hip fractures. Re-admitted patients have high mortality rates. Understanding causes of re-admission may help to reduce this burden.
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Hahnel et al. (2009) conducted an observational in Hip fracture (n=535). Hip fracture surgery was evaluated on Re-admission within 3 months. Following hip fracture surgery in elderly patients, 19.0% were re-admitted within 3 months, with infection as the most common cause, and re-admitted patients had a 35.1% mortality rate.