Relationship between American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade and 1-year mortality in nonagenarians undergoing hip fracture surgery

Abstract

This study retrospectively reviewed 327 nonagenarians who underwent hip fracture surgery at six hospitals. Functional status, postoperative complications, and 1-year mortality were evaluated, and relationships between these factors and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade were analyzed. ASA grade was significantly associated with postoperative complications and 1-year mortality. Few previous studies have reported outcomes after hip fracture in nonagenarians, and these studies did not report significant associations between ASA grade and mortality. However, most of these studies included only a small number of patients from a single hospital. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between ASA grade and functional status, postoperative complications, and mortality rate in nonagenarians undergoing hip fracture surgery. This study included 327 nonagenarians who underwent hip fracture surgery between January 2000 and December 2012. Patients with open fractures, subtrochanteric fractures, polytrauma, and pathological fractures were excluded. The medical records and X-rays were retrospectively reviewed. The relationships between ASA grade and functional status, postoperative complications, and 1-year mortality were analyzed. There were significant associations between the ASA grade and the rates of postoperative complications and 1-year mortality (both p < 0.05). All pairwise comparisons showed significant differences in postoperative complication rates between ASA grades (all p < 0.05). All pairwise comparisons, except for grades I vs. II and grades II vs. III, also showed significant differences in mortality rates between ASA grades (all p < 0.05). There were significant associations between the preoperative ability to manage activities of daily living and the rates of postoperative complications and 1-year mortality (both p < 0.05). ASA grade was significantly associated with the rates of postoperative complications and 1-year mortality in nonagenarians undergoing hip fracture surgery. The preoperative functional status was also significantly associated with these outcomes.