In-hospital mortality rate after osteoporotic hip fracture in Bucharest

Introduction: Hip fracture is the most severe consequence of osteoporosis and an important cause of excess mortality in the elderly.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the in-hospital mortality rate after osteoporotic hip fracture in patients treated surgically or functionally in specialized centers in Bucharest.

Materials and methods: We calculated the in-hospital mortality rate in 745 patients (540 women [72.48%], with a mean age of 79.1 ± 11 years), surgically or functionally treated for fragility hip fracture over a 12 months period.

Results: Average length of hospitalization was 18.12 days. In hospital mortality rate was 5.36% (n=40, women 60%). An important risk factor associated with mortality was age, p=0.001. The male sex was also a risk factor with a mortality rate of 7,8% (n=16), compared to 4.44% in women, p<0.005, with OR of 1.57. Out of the 40 patients, 57.5% had a femoral neck fracture, 35% intertrochanteric, and 5.5% atypical fracture in absence of bisphosphonates. 7.5% had previous fragility fractures. 85% of the patients had a history of one or more cardiac pathologies (34.28% with atrial fibrillation), 57.5% underwent surgical intervention (n=23) with an average day of intervention of 8.82 after admission. None of the patients had an osteoporosis treatment before the event and on average 3.73 medications with an increased risk of falling and fracture.

Conclusion: In-hospital mortality rate after hip fracture remains high; probably this being related to the high comorbidity associated with male sex and increased age as risk factors.