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Frailty and comorbidity predict 30 day postoperative outcomes, independent of anatomical site of fracture

  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Published:
Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Fragility fractures are a major threat to geriatric patients. However, it is unclear whether this patient population's inherent frailty and comorbidity or the physiologic insult caused by the fracture and its surgery contribute more to undesirable patient outcomes. Hence, this study examines if frailty and comorbidity can predict 30 day postoperative outcomes while the effects of multiple fracture sites are accounted for.

Methods

A retrospective review of patients ≥ 65 years of age in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program who underwent surgical treatment between 2013 and 2017 was performed. A total of 52,497 patients were included in the final analysis, including fracture cases of the extremities, limbs, and hip. Demographics, several metrics of preoperative health, temporal variables, and fracture location were tested in bivariate analysis of 30 day postoperative mortality, length of stay in hospital, discharge outcome, and complications. Significant variables were considered for multivariate logistic regression models for each outcome.

Results

Frailty, comorbidity, and time to surgery were found to be the significant predictors in multivariate analysis of each 30 day postoperative outcome, independent of the effects of fracture site (p < 0.05). Examination of 30 day mortality found that American Society of Anesthesiologists Class ≥ 3 (2.30 Odds Ratio), modified Frailty Index > 0 (1.37 OR), Charleston Comorbidity Index ≥ 6 (1.63 OR), and time to surgery (1.45 OR) were especially important (all p < 0.05). Additionally, the worst outcomes were associated with fractures of the pelvis/hip and femur/knee, including 30 day mortality (5.90 and 5.12 OR, respectively; both p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The effects of the preoperative health were found to be independent of patient demographics and fracture site. Additionally, specific high-risk fracture sites are significant predictors of outcome, supporting the need to prioritize these patients. Clinical care pathways for geriatric patients may benefit from emphasis on these high-risk fractures and preoperative patient health.

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Data availability

The ACS-NSQIP datasets are puublically available: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/data-and-registries/acs-nsqip/participant-use-data-file/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Albany Medical College, 49 New Scotland Ave, Albany, NY, 12208, USA

    Shayom Debopadhaya

  2. Orthopaedic Trauma Institute (OTI), San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), 2550 23Rd Street, Building 9, 2Nd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94110, USA

    Meir T. Marmor

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Debopadhaya, S., Marmor, M.T. Frailty and comorbidity predict 30 day postoperative outcomes, independent of anatomical site of fracture. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 143, 4697–4704 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-023-04764-7

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