The impact of China’s healthcare reforms on promoting early treatment for femoral neck fractures

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Femoral neck fractures are highly prevalent among the elderly population and are usually closed fractures caused by falls or injuries requiring emergency medical attention. Due to differences in medical resources, treatment options, and healthcare processes across countries and regions, the time interval from patient admission to surgical treatment varies. However, an increasing number of studies have shown that early surgical intervention can effectively reduce the incidence of postoperative short-term complications in patients with femoral neck fractures [1] . Recently, I read an article published by Wang et al . [2] . This study, for the fi rst time, utilized a national inpatient database in China and found that the proportion of Chinese patients with femoral neck fractures receiving early (within 48 h) hip arthroplasty slightly increased between 2013 and 2019. Compared to delayed surgery, both early total hip arthroplasty and early hemiarthroplasty were associated with lower risks of deep vein thrombosis and blood transfusion. Furthermore, early total hip arthroplasty was also associated with a lower risk of pulmonary embolism and a lower 30-day readmission rate. The study suggests that although the proportion remains low, early hip arthroplasty in China can signi fi cantly improve the prognosis of patients with femoral neck fractures, and more efforts should be made to optimize this surgical approach and shorten the waiting time for surgery.