Table 1.
Patient, injury, treatment, and admission details of study participants by treatment group
| N* | All (N = 390) | N* | Operative (N = 245) | N* | Nonoperative (N = 145) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | |||||||
| Female | 390 | 227 (58.2%) | 245 | 133 (54.3%) | 145 | 94 (64.8%) | 0.044 |
| Age (year) | 390 | 57 (40–68) | 245 | 53 (35–66) | 145 | 62 (49–71) | < 0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 387 | 26.0 (23.4–29.7) | 244 | 26.1 (23.4–29.9) | 143 | 25.8 (23.4–29.6) | 0.928 |
| Smoking | 390 | 81 (20.8%) | 245 | 55 (22.4%) | 145 | 26 (17.9%) | 0.304 |
| ASA 3 or 4 | 390 | 25 (6.4%) | 245 | 13 (5.3%) | 145 | 12 (8.3%) | 0.286 |
| Comorbidities | |||||||
| Any | 390 | 198 (50.8%) | 245 | 115 (46.9%) | 145 | 83 (57.2%) | 0.059 |
| Diabetes | 390 | 30 (7.7%) | 245 | 18 (7.3%) | 145 | 12 (8.3%) | 0.844 |
| Osteoarthritis | 390 | 32 (8.2%) | 245 | 15 (6.1%) | 145 | 17 (11.7%) | 0.058 |
| Osteoporosis or osteopenia | 390 | 6 (1.5%) | 245 | 1 (0.4%) | 145 | 5 (3.4%) | 0.028 |
| Medication use | 390 | 208 (53.3%) | 245 | 127 (51.8%) | 145 | 81 (55.9%) | 0.463 |
| Number of medications | 208 | 3 (1–5) | 127 | 2 (1–4) | 81 | 3 (1–5) | 0.225 |
| Injury characteristics | |||||||
| Dominant side affected | 390 | 189 (48.5%) | 245 | 116 (47.3%) | 145 | 73 (50.3%) | 0.601 |
| Fracture classification | |||||||
| A1 | 390 | 108 (27.7%) | 245 | 57 (23.3%) | 145 | 51 (35.2%) | 0.002 |
| A2 | 66 (16.9%) | 43 (17.6%) | 23 (15.9%) | ||||
| A3 | 89 (22.8%) | 71 (29.0%) | 18 (12.4%) | ||||
| B1 | 93 (23.8%) | 51 (20.8%) | 42 (29.0%) | ||||
| B2 | 15 (3.8%) | 10 (4.1%) | 5 (3.4%) | ||||
| B3 | 19 (4.9%) | 13 (5.3%) | 6 (4.1%) | ||||
| Radial nerve palsy at presentation | 390 | 16 (4.1%) | 245 | 13 (5.3%) | 145 | 3 (2.1%) | 0.185 |
| Additional injuries | 390 | 37 (9.5%) | 245 | 26 (10.6%) | 145 | 11 (7.6%) | 0.374 |
| Ipsilateral arm | 390 | 7 (1.8%) | 245 | 6 (2.4%) | 145 | 1 (0.7%) | 0.266 |
| Contralateral arm | 390 | 5 (1.3%) | 245 | 4 (1.6%) | 145 | 1 (0.7%) | 0.655 |
| Admission and follow-up characteristics | |||||||
| Hospital | |||||||
| Admission | 390 | 271 (69.5%) | 245 | 245 (100.0%) | 145 | 26 (17.9%) | < 0.001 |
| LOS (days) | 271 | 2 (2–4) | 245 | 2 (2–4) | 26 | 2 (2–3) | 0.830 |
| Discharge disposition | |||||||
| Home | 271 | 258 (95.2%) | 245 | 235 (95.9%) | 26 | 23 (88.5%) | 0.093 |
| Care hotel | 8 (3.0%) | 6 (2.4%) | 2 (7.7%) | ||||
| Elderly care facility | 2 (0.7%) | 1 (0.4%) | 1 (3.8%) | ||||
| Rehabilitation center | 3 (1.1%) | 3 (1.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | ||||
| Other care facility admission | 390 | 13 (3.3%) | 245 | 8 (3.3%) | 145 | 5 (3.4%) | 1.000 |
| Nursing home, LOS (days) | 1 | 30 (30–30) | 1 | 30 (30–30) | 0 | N.A | N.A |
| Care hotel, LOS (days) | 7 | 10 (5–30) | 4 | 8 (5–25) | 3 | 21 (3–21) | 0.721 |
| Elderly care facility, LOS (days) | 4 | 35 (23–84) | 1 | 21 (21–21) | 3 | 42 (28–42) | 0.180 |
| Rehabilitation clinic, LOS (days) | 3 | 25 (24–25) | 3 | 25 (24–25) | 0 | N.A | N.A |
| Physical therapy (number of sessions) | 337 | 24 (12–45) | 217 | 25 (13–48) | 120 | 22 (12–42) | 0.307 |
P-values <0.05 are shown in boldface
Data are presented as N (%) or median (P25–P75)
ASA American Society of Anesthesiologists' classification, BMI body mass index, LOS length of stay
*N represents the number of patients for whom data were available per follow-up moment