SAGE Open Medicine (Jan 2024)

Impact of preoperative echocardiographic delay on timing of hip fracture surgery in elderly patients

  • Mitsuyoshi Kaieda,
  • Yusuke Fujimoto,
  • Yoshiya Arishima,
  • Yasuhisa Togo,
  • Tadashi Ogura,
  • Noboru Taniguchi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121231222345
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Objectives: Early surgery is recommended for hip fractures in elderly patients. This study was performed to evaluate factors contributing to delayed surgery and associated outcomes in a secondary hospital in Japan with a rehabilitation centre. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 895 patients aged >50 years [median age, 86 (81–91) years] treated for hip fractures at our institution from 2016 to 2020. We defined surgical delay as surgery performed >48 h after admission. We evaluated several risk factors for surgical delay and associated outcomes: mortality, length of hospital stay and walking status. Results: Binomial logistic regression analysis showed that several factors, including preoperative echocardiographic delay (odds ratio, 9.38; 95% confidence interval, 5.95–15.28), were risk factors for surgical delay. In the multiple regression analyses, surgical delay was a significant risk factor for a longer hospital stay (partial regression coefficient, 6.99; 95% confidence interval, 3.67–10.31). Conclusions: Our findings indicated that preoperative echocardiographic delay was one of the risk factors for surgical delay of hip fractures in elderly patients. Surgical delay was a risk factor for a longer hospital stay, including rehabilitation.