1. Outcomes: Definitions and time points.
| Outcome | Study | Definition | Time point |
| Pneumonia | Berggren 1987 | "treated for" | "during the postoperative period" |
| Bigler 1985 | Unspecified | "postoperatively" | |
| Davis 1981 | Chest X‐Ray in clinical suspicion | Up to four weeks | |
| Heidari 2011 | "diagnosed by the consultant specialist" | "postoperative" | |
| McLaren 1978 | "The clinical criteria adopted as indicating respiratory problems were productive cough, the presence of rhonchi or crepitations on auscultation or abnormalities on chest X‐ray." However the criteria adopted for the diagnosis of a pneumonia ("respiratory infection") are not clearly mentioned | Up to four weeks | |
| Racle 1986 | "clinical and radiological criteria" | "in hospital" | |
| White 1980 | Unspecified | Within four weeks | |
| Myocardial infarction | Biboulet 2012 | EKG and troponin measurement daily for three days, no definition provided | Within one month |
| Couderc 1977 | Serial preprogrammed EKGs up to postoperative day 10 interpreted by a blinded cardiologist. Q wave |
In hospital | |
| Heidari 2011 | "diagnosed by the consultant specialist" | "postoperative" | |
| Juelsgaard 1998 | World Health Organization criteria applied by a blinded investigator | Within one month | |
| Congestive cardiac failure | Berggren 1987 | "treated for" | "during the postoperative period" |
| Biboulet 2012 | "acute heart failure" | Within one month | |
| Bigler 1985 | "cardiac decompensation" | "postoperatively" | |
| Davis 1981 | "life‐threatening complications" "congestive heart failure" | Within four weeks | |
| Heidari 2011 | "diagnosed by the consultant specialist" | "postoperative" | |
| Racle 1986 | "episode of congestive heart failure" | In hospital | |
| Cerebrovascular accident | Berggren 1987 | "stroke" | All patients developed their stroke on postoperative day one |
| Biboulet 2012 | "stroke" | Within one month | |
| Bigler 1985 | "Neurological sequelae", apoplexy for the sole event reported | "postoperatively" | |
| Davis 1981 | "cerebrovascular accident" | Within four weeks | |
| Heidari 2011 | "cerebrovascular accident" "diagnosed by the consultant specialist" | "postoperative" | |
| Racle 1986 | "cerebrovascular accident" | In hospital | |
| Acute confusional state | Berggren 1987 | Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM‐Ill) as criteria for acute confusional state | Within seven days (the period 0‐8 hours after the surgery was excluded) |
| Bigler 1985 | "Mental confusion" | "postoperatively" | |
| Casati 2003 | Mini Mental State Examination test decreased 2 points from baseline | Within seven days | |
| de Visme 2000 | Mini Mental Status Examination lower than 5 | Between the third and fifth postoperative day | |
| Heidari 2011 | Cognitive dysfunction based on time, person, and place disorientation | Up to postoperative day two | |
| Kamitani 2003 | Delirium was judged by floor nurse, using the Inoue's confusion assessment method diagnosis algorithm | Up to postoperative day four | |
| Racle 1986 | Confusion with agitation | In hospital | |
| White 1980 | Unspecified | Within four weeks | |
| Renal failure (or acute kidney injury) | Davis 1981 | "acute renal failure" | Within four weeks |
| Racle 1986 | Blood creatinine > 135 micromol/Liter | In hospital | |
| Deep vein thrombosis | Brichant 1995 | Systematic bilateral contrast venography | Postoperative day ten |
| Davis 1981 | 125‐iodine fibrinogen uptake test performed daily for seven days | Within seven days | |
| Heidari 2011 | "deep veins thrombosis" "diagnosed by the consultant specialist" | "postoperative" | |
| Ibanez 1993 | "thrombosis" | Within seven days | |
| McKenzie 1984 | Systematic venography | Between postoperative day seven and ten | |
| White 1980 | "deep vein thrombosis" | Within four weeks | |
| Pulmonary embolism | Berggren 1987 | "pulmonary embolism" | "postoperatively" |
| Bigler 1985 | "pulmonary embolus" | "postoperatively" | |
| Brichant 1995 | Pulmonary venous angiogram or ventilation‐perfusion lung scanning on clinical suspicion | Unclear | |
| Heidari 2011 | "pulmonary emboli" "diagnosed by the consultant specialist" | "postoperatively" | |
| Racle 1986 | Clinical suspicion confirmed with angiography | In hospital | |
| Unsatisfactory surgical results | Spreadbury 1980 | Either an unstable fixation of the fracture by nail and plate or the dislocation of a prosthesis, which required bedrest on traction and prevented early mobilization | In hospital |
| Operative hypotension | Berggren 1987 | Decrease > 30% from baseline for systolic arterial blood pressure | Intraoperative |
| Biffoli 1998 | Decrease of 30% from baseline for arterial blood pressure | Intraoperative | |
| Brown 1994 | Requiring the administration of a sympathomimetic | Intraoperative | |
| Casati 2003 | Decrease in systolic arterial pressure 20% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Couderc 1977 | Decrease of 40 mmHG in systolic arterial blood pressure | Intraoperative | |
| Davis 1987 | Decrease in systolic arterial blood pressure > 20% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Eyrolle 1998 | Decrease in mean arterial blood pressure > 20% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Juelsgaard 1998 | Decrease in systolic arterial blood pressure > 33% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Maurette 1988 | Decrease in mean arterial blood pressure > 20% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| McLaren 1978 | Decrease in systolic arterial blood pressure > 50% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Messina 2013 | Decrease in mean arterial blood pressure of 25% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Racle 1986 | Decrease in systolic arterial blood pressure of 20% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Svarting 1986 | Decrease in systolic arterial blood pressure > 30% from baseline | Intraoperative | |
| Urine retention | Berggren 1987 | "urinary retention" | "postoperative" |
| Cao 2008 | "that required catheterization" | In hospital |
EKG: electrocardiogram