Mortality as an indicator of treatment quality after pertrochanteric fractures in the elderly

Fractures in people over the age of 65, especially pertrochanteric fractures of the femur, present a growing medical problem. Surgical treatment of such fractures should be performed in the shortest possible time after the accident. Efforts were made to answer the question what contributes to the reduction in mortality after pertrochanteric fractures.

This work presents a comparative analysis of two populations treated surgically due to pertrochanteric fractures at the District Hospital of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery in Piekary Slaskie during years 1988-1992 and 2005-2008. Patient mortality was used as an indicator of treatment quality. In the first group of 118 patients hospitalized in years 1988-1992, there were 48 deaths reported during 12 months after the surgery. In the second studied population of 244 patients (operated in years 2005-2008), 54 deaths were noted in the 12-month period after the surgery. There was a reduction in mortality from 40.6% to 22.3% over those 15 years.

Introducing mortality as an indicator in the comprehensive assessment of treatment quality will intensify its monitoring in both the hospital as well as the out-of-hospital period of care. It will also reveal the individuality and social importance of geriatric fractures.