Mortality After Distal Femur Fractures in Elderly Patients.
Summary of "Mortality After Distal Femur Fractures in Elderly Patients."
BACKGROUND:
Hip fractures in the elderly are associated with high 1-year mortality rates, but whether patients with other lower extremity fractures are exposed to a similar mortality risk is not clear. QUESTIONS/
PURPOSES:
We evaluated the mortality of elderly patients after distal femur fractures; determined predictors for mortality; analyzed the effect of surgical delay; and compared survivorship of elderly patients with distal femur fractures with subjects in a matched hip fracture group. PATIENTS AND
METHODS:
We included 92 consecutive patients older than 60 years with low-energy supracondylar femur fractures treated between 1999 and 2009. Patient, fracture, and treatment characteristics were extracted from operative records, charts, and radiographs. Data regarding mortality were obtained from the Social Security Death Index.
RESULTS:
Age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index and a previous TKA were independent predictors for decreased survival. Congestive heart failure, dementia, renal disease, and history of malignant tumor led to shorter survival times. Patients who underwent surgery more than 4 days versus 48 hours after admission had greater 6-month and 1-year mortality risks. No differences in mortality were found comparing patients with native distal femur fractures with patients in a hip fracture control group.
CONCLUSIONS:
Periprosthetic fractures and fractures in patients with dementia, heart failure, advanced renal disease, and metastasis lead to reduced survival. The age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index may serve as a useful tool to predict survival after distal femur fractures. Surgical delay greater than 4 days increases the 6-month and 1-year mortality risks. Mortality after native fractures of the distal femur in the geriatric population is high and similar to mortality after hip fractures. LEVEL OF
EVIDENCE:
Level II, prognostic study. See the guidelines online for a complete description of evidence.
Affiliation
Orthopedic Trauma Service, Department of Orthopedics, Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8233, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA, philipp.streubel@gmail.com.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Clinical orthopaedics and related research
ISSN: 1528-1132
Pages:
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20830542
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11999-010-1530-2
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Hip Fractures
Fractures of the FEMUR HEAD; the FEMUR NECK; (FEMORAL NECK FRACTURES); the trochanters; or the inter- or subtrochanteric region. Excludes fractures of the acetabulum and fractures of the femoral shaft below the subtrochanteric region (FEMORAL FRACTURES).
Femoral Neck Fractures
Fractures of the short, constricted portion of the thigh bone between the femur head and the trochanters. It excludes intertrochanteric fractures which are HIP FRACTURES.
Femoral Fractures
Fractures of the femur.
Health Transition
Demographic and epidemiologic changes that have occurred in the last five decades in many developing countries and that are characterized by major growth in the number and proportion of middle-aged and elderly persons and in the frequency of the diseases that occur in these age groups. The health transition is the result of efforts to improve maternal and child health via primary care and outreach services and such efforts have been responsible for a decrease in the birth rate; reduced maternal mortality; improved preventive services; reduced infant mortality, and the increased life expectancy that defines the transition. (From Ann Intern Med 1992 Mar 15;116(6):499-504)
Femur Head Necrosis
Aseptic or avascular necrosis of the femoral head. The major types are idiopathic (primary), as a complication of fractures or dislocations, and LEGG-PERTHES DISEASE.
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