The risk of complications after hip fracture.
Goh EL., Png ME., Metcalfe D., Achten J., Appelbe D., Griffin XL., Cook JA., Costa ML., WHiTE Investigators None., Barrett M., Hull P., Melling D., Kosy J., Charalambous CP., Keast-Butler O., Magill P., Yarlagadda R., Vashista G., Savaridas T., Sturridge S., Smith G., Dasari K., Bhaskar D., Bajada S., Bigsby E., Mahmood A., Dunbar M., Jimenez A., Wood R., Penny J., Eardley W., Handley R., Srinivasan S., Gee M., Kulkarni A., Davison J., Maqsood M., Sharma A., Peach C., Sheeraz A., Page P., Kelly A., McNamara I., Longstaff L., Reed M., Moppett I., Sorial A., Joachim T., Ng A., Gallagher K., Farrar M., Ghande A., Bird J., Rajagopalan S., McAndrew A., Sloan A., Middleton R., Dos Remedios I., McClelland D., Rogers B., Berstock J., Bhatnagar S., Diamond O., Fearon P., Gill I., Dunlop D., Chesser T., Acharya M., Sree D., Craik J., Hutchinson D., Johnson D., Elgalli M., Dixon P., Ellapparadja P., Slater G., Kozdryk J., Young J., Ollivere B., Mohanty K., Faisal M., Clark C., Dhinsa B., Malek I., Heaton S., Blocker O.
AIMS: The risk of mortality after a hip fracture has been extensively investigated, but there is little high-quality information available dealing with the overall risk of complications. The aim of this study was to report the risk of complications in the first 120 days after a hip fracture. METHODS: This was a multicentre, prospective cohort study of patients aged > 60 years with a hip fracture, involving 77 hospitals in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, between January 2015 and 2022. The primary outcomes of interest were mortality and surgery-specific and general complications, at 120 days postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 24,523 patients with a hip fracture were enrolled. The 120-day risk of mortality was 12.4% (95% CI 12.0 to 12.8). The 120-day risks of surgery-specific complications were: for dislocation, 1.5% (95% CI 1.3 to 1.7); failure of fixation, 1.0% (95% CI 0.8 to 1.2); for peri-implant or periprosthetic fracture, 0.3% (95% CI 0.3 to 0.4); for reoperation for any indication, 2.7% (95% CI 2.5 to 2.9); and for surgical site infection, 3.4% (95% CI 3.2 to 3.6). The 120-day risks of general complications were: for acute kidney injury, 3.4% (95% CI 3.1 to 3.6); for the requirement of a blood transfusion, 7.0% (95% CI 6.7 to 7.3); for lower respiratory tract infection, 9.1% (95% CI 8.7 to 9.4); for urinary tract infection, 7.0% (95% CI 6.7 to 7.3); for cerebrovascular accident, 0.7% (95% CI 0.6 to 0.8); for myocardial infarction, 0.7% (95% CI 0.6 to 0.9); and for venous thromboembolism, 1.8% (95% CI 1.6 to 2.0). CONCLUSIONS: Although the risk of mortality has declined in recent years, older patients with a hip fracture remain at a high risk of surgery-specific and general complications.