Hip fracture: a review of 1,166 cases in a community hospital setting

A consecutive series of 1,166 patients 50 years of age and older with acute hip fracture, treated at a community hospital over a 20-year period, is analyzed as to age, sex, type of fracture, associated diseases, and treatment in relation to mortality and morbidity. Mortality was 8.66% overall (6.58% for patients treated surgically, 30.39% for nonoperative patients). The postoperative complication rate for surgical patients was 21%. Associated diseases, type of treatment and delay prior to surgery were major factors contributing to mortality. It was found that a patient's survival chances are enhanced by adequate control of associated diseases prior to and following injury, early surgery, and competent treatment of the fractured hip. Also, the mortality rate for patients with fractured hips was found to be lower for patients treated in community hospitals than for patients treated in municipal or county hospitals.