Table 1.
Unadjusted comparison of demographics, morbidity and mortality among patients treated with prophylactic stabilization versus fracture fixation*
| Characteristic | Fracture fixation | Prophylactic fixation | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. patients† | 350 | 201 | |
| Primary cancer type, % | 0.10 | ||
| Lung | 23.1 | 31.3 | |
| Breast | 17.1 | 13.4 | |
| Kidney | 5.1 | 7.5 | |
| Prostate | 7.4 | 4.5 | |
| Other (multiple) | 47.1 | 43.3 | |
| Age, mean (range) yr | 66.8 (14.8–91.9) | 64.8 (15.0–91.8) | 0.06 |
| Comorbidity, % > 1 | 22.0 | 15.9 | 0.08 |
| Female sex, % | 64.3 | 59.2 | 0.24 |
| Length of stay in hospital, d | 24.3 (1 – 155) | 19.3 (1–105) | 0.006 |
| Surgical/medical complication, % | 10.9 | 8.0 | 0.27 |
| Infection, % | 0.6‡ | 0.0 | 0.28 |
| DVT within 3 mo, % | 6.0 | 3.0 | 0.12 |
| Urinary tract infection, % | 4.6 | 4.5 | 0.96 |
| Died, % | |||
| During surgery | 0.6‡ | 1.0‡ | 0.57 |
| Admission | 20.0 | 9.0 | 0.001 |
| 3 months | 28.3 | 13.9 | 0.000 |
DVT = deep vein thrombosis.
*
We made statistical comparisons between the 2 groups using the Student t test for continuous variables or the χ2 test for categorical variables (with continuity correction). We used the Fisher exact test when 1 or more cells had fewer than 5 expected counts.
†
Seven patients who underwent both fracture fixation and prophylactic stabilization of the opposite femur are not included in this table (see Table 2).
‡
Two cases.