Dual Antiplatelet Therapy and Surgical Timing in Geriatric Hip Fracture

To determine how timing of surgery affects transfusion, major complications, and mortality in patients who sustain a geriatric hip fracture while taking dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT; typically aspirin and clopidogrel).

Retrospective cohort study.

University-affiliated Level 1 Trauma Center.

Patients 65 years of age or older on DAPT with a geriatric hip fracture were investigated at a single institution between 2002 and 2017. Demographic and perioperative data were collected from patient records, institutional databases, and national hip fracture registry.

Fixation or arthroplasty.

Transfusion, major complications, and 30-day mortality.

Of the 6724 patients sustaining a geriatric hip fracture, 122 patients were taking DAPT on admission. Timing of surgery did not influence transfused units (incidence rate ratio 1.00, 95% confidence interval: 0.87-1.15, P = 0.968) but did affect major complications (time modeled as quadratic term; odds ratios ranging from 0.20 to 7.91, ptime = 0.001, ptime*time<0.001) and 30-day mortality (odds ratio 1.32, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.68, P = 0.030).

Surgical delay does not change the need for transfusion of hip fracture patients on DAPT, but it is associated with increased probabilities of major complications and 30-day mortality.

Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.