Abstract
Surgery is the preferred treatment for intertrochanteric fractures. This study aimed to analyze risk factors for predicting mortality after intertrochanteric hip fracture surgery by arthroplasty and internal fixation. We performed a retrospective analysis of 1,263 patients who received surgical treatment for intertrochanteric fractures from January 2005 to December 2010. The clinical and follow-up data from 491 eligible patients were collected and analyzed. The age, activity before surgery, activity after surgery, anesthesia, medical illness, and the time between fracture and surgery were significantly associated with the mortality as single factor. Multifactor analysis showed that the activity after surgery, medical illness, and the time between fracture and surgery were correlated with postoperative mortality. In conclusion, these data suggest that the age, activity after surgery, medical illness could affect postoperative mortality of patients of intertrochanteric fractures. These factors may be used to predict the postoperative mortality of intertrochanteric fractures.
Keywords: Mortality, intertrochanteric hip fracture, arthroplasty, internal fixation
Introduction
Hip fracture is a common injury in the clinic and intertrochanteric fractures account for a large proportion of such fractures, which are often accompanied by a high mortality rate (14-47%) [1,2]. Surgery is the preferred treatment for intertrochanteric fractures, and internal fixation and arthroplasty are two main methods of surgical treatment of femoral intertrochanteric fracture. The purpose of aggressive surgical treatment is to enable patients to take early activities, reduce complications, improve postoperative quality of life, prolong survival, and reduce postoperative mortality [3,4]. The mortality rate has been used as one of the most important factors in the evaluation of surgery outcomes after intertrochanteric hip fracture [5,6].
In addition to the patient’s age and gender, the way of surgery, the time of surgery, medical condition and physical activity of the patients are the risk factors that affect the recovery of the patients after surgery. In this retrospective study, we enrolled 1,263 patients who received surgical treatment for intertrochanteric fractures and analyzed the risk factors that affect the mortality of the patients after intertrochanteric hip fracture surgery.
Methods
Study design and setting
Our hospital is the largest hospital in our province to provide hip fracture surgery. Therefore, our cohort is a population-based representation of all patients with intertrochanteric hip fracture in the area. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, and all participants gave signed consent.
During the study period, Jan. 2005 to Dec. 2010, 1,263 consecutive patients with intertrochanteric hip fracture were admitted and treated at our department. The inclusion criteria for the patients were as follows: diagnosed as intertrochanteric fractures, underwent surgical treatment, had complete perioperative medical records and follow-up. The exclusion criteria for the patients were as follows: patients without surgical treatment and patients without effective follow-up.
Data collection
The primary sources of data were the medical records of each patient. In addition, each patient was given questionnaires for survey and follow-up.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS PASW Statistics 18.0 (IBM Co., USA). Univariate analysis combined with chi-square tests was performed to determine the significant factors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the correlation. Comparison between two groups was performed using the t-test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results
From Jan. 2005 to Dec. 2010, 1,263 patients were admitted in our department, among them 491 patients (231 males and 260 females) met the inclusion criteria and were further analyzed in this study.
The results showed that overall postoperative mortality was 16.3% and 18.9% for internal fixation and arthroplasty, respectively. The mortality was 0% at 30 days after surgery.
To identify significant factors associated with the mortality after surgical treatment for intertrochanteric fractures, we performed univariate analysis combined with chi-square tests. The results showed that the age, activity before surgery and activity after surgery, anesthesia, medical condition, and the time between fracture and surgery had significant effects on the mortality (Table 1). Furthermore, we performed multivariate analysis and found that only postoperative activity, medical condition and the time between fracture and surgery were correlated with postoperative mortality (Table 2).
Table 1.
The effects of risk factors on the mortality
| Risk factors | Death | Mortality rate (%) | X2 | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||
| - | + | ||||
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 191 | 40 | 17.3 | 0.049 | 0.826 |
| Female | 213 | 47 | 18.1 | ||
| Age (years) | |||||
| ≤ 60 | 150 | 3 | 2.00 | 109.3 | 0.000 |
| 60-70 | 68 | 9 | 11.7 | ||
| 71-79 | 120 | 15 | 11.17 | ||
| ≥ 80 | 66 | 60 | 47.67 | ||
| Types of surgery | |||||
| Internal fixation | 185 | 36 | 16.3 | 0.563 | 0 |
| Arthroplasty | 219 | 51 | 18.9 | ||
| Types of fractures | |||||
| Stable fractures | 216 | 38 | 15.0 | 2.746 | 0 |
| Unstable fractures | 188 | 49 | 20.7 | ||
| Activity before surgery | |||||
| Self support | 212 | 10 | 4.5 | 108.8 | 0.000 |
| Need support, no accompany | 103 | 12 | 10.4 | ||
| Need support and accompany | 57 | 39 | 40.65 | ||
| Bedridden | 17 | 23 | 57.5 | ||
| No records | 15 | 3 | 16.7 | ||
| Activity after surgery | |||||
| Self support | 281 | 15 | 5.1 | 124.0 | 0.000 |
| Need support, no accompany | 94 | 39 | 29.3 | ||
| Need support and accompany | 15 | 24 | 61.5 | ||
| Bedridden | 0 | 6 | 100.0 | ||
| No records | 14 | 3 | 17.6 | ||
| Anesthesia | |||||
| Local anesthesia | 238 | 22 | 8.5 | 32.49 | 0.000 |
| General anesthesia | 166 | 65 | 28.1 | ||
| Medical illness | |||||
| Yes | 99 | 78 | 44.1 | 131.8 | 0.000 |
| No | 305 | 9 | 2.9 | ||
| Time between fracture and surgery (hour) | |||||
| ≤ 12 | 196 | 22 | 10.1 | 57.63 | 0.000 |
| 12-24 | 195 | 43 | 18.1 | ||
| ≥ 24 | 13 | 22 | 62.9 | ||
Table 2.
The correlation of risk factors with the mortality
| Risk factors | Odds ratio | 95% confidence interval | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||
| Lower | Upper | ||
| Age (years) | |||
| 60-70 | 2.583 | 0.523 | 12.766 |
| 71-79 | 1.466 | 0.226 | 9.526 |
| ≥ 80 | 2.164 | 0.281 | 16.677 |
| Activity before surgery | |||
| Need support, no accompany | 0.382 | 0.095 | 1.541 |
| Need support and accompany | 0.563 | 0.113 | 2.804 |
| Bedridden | 0.146 | 0.019 | 1.150 |
| No records | 0.000 | 0.000 | . |
| Activity after surgery | |||
| Need support, no accompany | 4.447 | 1.432 | 13.817 |
| Need support and accompany | 20.450 | 4.083 | 102.433 |
| Bedridden | 2.203E10 | 0.000 | . |
| No records | 6.745E7 | 0.000 | . |
| Anesthesia | |||
| General anesthesia | 0.687 | 0.248 | 1.906 |
| Medical illness | |||
| Yes | 0.067 | 0.024 | 0.185 |
| Time between fracture and surgery (hour) | |||
| 12-24 | 1.513 | 0.748 | 3.059 |
| ≥ 24 | 4.175 | 1.339 | 13.019 |
When arthroplasty and internal fixation were compared, arthroplasty could significantly prolong the survival of the patients after surgical treatment for intertrochanteric fractures. The number of patients with survival of more than 25 months after the surgery was significantly higher in the patients who received arthroplasty treatment than in those who received internal fixation treatment (P < 0.05, Figure 1).
Figure 1.
The comparison of survival time after internal fixation and arthroplasty. The number of case of survival of 7-12 months was significantly smaller in arthroplasty treatment group than in internal fixation treatment group (*P < 0.05), while the numbers of case of survival of 25-36 months and > 36 months were significantly bigger in arthroplasty treatment group than in internal fixation treatment group (*P < 0.05).
Discussion
The risk factors that affect the mortality after intertrochanteric fracture surgery have been investigated but the outcomes are different. In general, the patients with intertrochanteric fracture are older than the normal population and the sex ratio for patients who die after surgery is different from that of control [7]. Old age is an important factor affecting postoperative mortality [8,9]. In this study, among 491 qualified participants 87 elderly patients (> 60 years) accounted for 96.6% of death in all patients, and the mortality rate increased gradually with increasing age. The overall mortality rate is lower for internal fixation than arthroplasty (16.3% vs. 18.9%). However, after we excluded patients less than 60 years old, postoperative mortality was higher for internal fixation than arthroplasty (27.9% vs. 26.3%). These results indicate that old age has an obvious impact on postoperative mortality, and arthroplasty could effectively prolong the survival of elderly patients. Our results are in agreement with previous studies that among elderly patients with intertrochanteric fractures, arthroplasty had the advantages compared to internal fixation treatment [10,11].
The male to female ratio of intertrochanteric fracture patients has been reported to be 1:1.8 in USA [12]. In recent years the morbidity and mortality of intertrochanteric fracture in the male patients have gradually increased, and their ages are younger and physiological indicators of preoperative examination are worse compared to women [13-15]. However, in this study we found that the mortality did not differ significantly between male and female patients, consistent with an early report that the gender and postoperative mortality is not related [16].
The quality of life and the activity of the limbs in the patients before the operation are considered as important factors affecting postoperative mortality [17,18]. In this study by questionnaire based survey and follow-up, we found that the activity before and after surgery were related with postoperative mortality.
Local anesthesia and general anesthesia in hip fractures have different effects on postoperative mortality. While no statistical difference was found between them for postoperative 30-day mortality, postoperative 120-day mortality was lower for general anesthesia than for local anesthesia [19]. In our study, the patients were divided into local and general anesthesia groups, and we found that mortality rate after local anesthesia was lower than that after general anesthesia (8.5% vs. 28.1%, OR 0.687, 95% CI 0.248 to 1.906).
For fracture type, the patients were divided into two groups, stable fractures and unstable fractures, and we found that postoperative mortality was higher for patients with unstable intertrochanteric fractures than for those with stable intertrochanteric fractures. These results are consistent with previous study [20].
The relationship of the time between fracture and surgery with postoperative mortality after fracture is still under debate due to the conflicting results reported [21-23]. We think that a lot of other factors such as the conditions of the patients contribute to these results. In this study, the patients were divided into three groups, with the time between surgery and fracture as within 12 hours, 13-24 hours and over 24 hours. The results showed that, postoperative mortality was significantly higher in patients with fractures more than 24 hours than in the other two groups (62.9% vs. 10.1% and 18.1%, OR4.175, 95% CI 1.339 to 13.019). Thus it is important for hip fracture patients to undergo surgery as soon as possible, to avoid unnecessary surgery delay. Surgery delay may be an important cause of postoperative death and it also increases the risk of decubitus ulcers.
In clinical practice, we found that the majority of patients who died postoperatively had heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and other medical illness. Therefore, in this study medical disease was considered as a risk factor and both single factor and multivariate analysis showed that these diseases were correlated with postoperative mortality (OR0.067, 95% CI 0.024 to 0.185). Based on these data, we believe that old people suffering from these diseases are high-risk group of patients subject to intertrochanteric fracture postoperative death, and should be given great attention for clinical prevention and treatment.
In conclusion, we analyzed patients with intertrochanteric fractures to identify risk factors of postoperative mortality. We found that some of the factors were associated with postoperative mortality by univariate analysis, but the association was not statistically significant by multivariate analysis. We think that the reason may be affected by the sample size. Further studies that employ larger samples will help clarify the relevant risk factors that have an impact on intertrochanteric fracture postoperative mortality, and provide more effective prevention and management strategies for intertrochanteric fracture postoperative mortality.
Acknowledgements
This study is supported by the grant from Zhejiang Province Bureau of Health (No. 2012KYA018).
Disclosure of conflict of interest
None.
References
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