Abstract
BackgroundHip fractures account for one of the most debilitating conditions affecting the general population amongst the developed and developing nations. Investigators aimed to study the influence of the ongoing season i.e. whether patients operated upon in summer or winter, on post-operative complications occurring within 30 days of surgical procedure for hip fractures at a tertiary care hospital and level 1 trauma center. Materials and methodsInvestigators conducted a non-funded, non-commercialized retrospective cohort of 1045 patients with hip fractures managed surgically. Primary exposure was surgical procedures undertaken during the summer months (April–September). Our primary outcome was determining post-operative complication rates from January 2010 to December 2018 and evaluating impact of the season through univariate and multivariable regression analyses using Cox Proportional Hazard Algorithm with STATA V15. The work has been reported in line with the STROCSS criteria. ResultsAge, ASA status, type of procedure, mechanism of injury and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) were identified as significant associated factors with postoperative complications after hip fracture surgery. Although overall results revealed a rising rate of complications during the summer season with a relative risk (RR; 95% CI) of 1.1(0.89–1.32), univariate and multivariable analysis did not show any significant correlations. ConclusionsThe results of this study did not demonstrate a significant seasonal variability in the rate of postoperative complications for hip fracture patients operated upon during the hot months of summer. More research is required to analyze postoperative complications in order to optimize patients’ outcomes.
Highlights
Hip fractures account for one of the most debilitating conditions affecting the population amongst the developed and developing nations
Mean duration of surgery in the summer months was slightly greater than the mean duration of surgery in winter months, i.e. 106 and 101 min, respectively
Our study revealed that patients who underwent their hip fracture surgeries during the summer months have a 10% higher risk of developing postoperative complications as compared to patients who had their surgeries during the winter months [aRR = 1.10, CI = (0.99–1.33)], after adjusting for all other independent variables
Summary
Hip fractures account for one of the most debilitating conditions affecting the population amongst the developed and developing nations. It is important to identify factors that increase the risk of complications which can be mitigated to enhance patient outcomes Some of these factors include surgeon expertise, hospital type, age and comorbidities of the patient, type of anesthesia, day of the week and time lapse between admission and procedure amongst several others [3,4,5]. Another important factor coming to light is the influence of the ongoing season on rate of complication with multiple studies presenting data showing significant rise during summer months [6,7]. More research is required to analyze postoperative complications in order to optimize patients’ outcomes
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