Study: Worse outcomes after hip fracture surgery than THR

Editor's Note

Hip fracture surgery was associated with a higher risk of mortality and morbidity than elective total hip replacement (THR) even after adjustment for age, gender, and comorbidities, in this French study.

Hip fracture patients had a 1.8% chance of dying before hospital discharge compared to 0.3% for THR patients. Those with a hip fracture also had a 5.9% chance of a major postoperative complication, compared to 2.3% for THR patients.

Further studies are needed to define the causes of these differences, the authors say.

1Department of Anesthesia, Michael DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michael DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 3Population Health Research Institute, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada