Postoperative complications in elderly with high-risk intertrochanteric fracture treated with external fixator

Abstract

Objective To analyze the postoperative complications of external fixator in treatment of elderly high-risk intertrochanteric fractures and its effect on length of hospital stay and on in-hospital fees.Methods The study involved 55 elderly patients with high-risk intertrochanteric fractures fixed with Orthofix external fixators from January 2009 to December 2011.There were 21 males and 34 females at age range of 70-79 years.All patients were associated with one underlying disease at least.Relationship of complications with patients' age,preoperative underlying diseases,surgery operation and postoperative care were analyzed.Results Common postoperative complications were lung infection (11％),screw channel exudation (25％),superficial pin tract infection (13％) and pain around the screws (22％).Factors for lung infection included the underlying lung disease and cerebral infarction before operation.Influential factor of screw channel exudation was the degree of damage to soft tissue intraoperatively.Influential factor of the superficial pin tract infection was postoperative care level.Average length of hospital stay was 5.17 days longer for patients who experienced complications after operation.Conclusions Common postoperative complications are influenced by preoperative occurrence of underlying lung disease as well as cerebral infarction,intraoperative damage to soft tissues and postoperative care level.Postoperative complications prolong the length of hospital stay and increase the treatment expense. Key words: Femoral fractures ; Fracture fixation, external ; Complications