Hip replacement for femur neck fracture in the elderly, effects of delayed surgical intervention on morbidity and mortality, a retrospective comparative study

Hip fracture is one of the most common injuries in the elderly population. Delay in operating on patients with hip fracture is associated with greater mortality and morbidity. A retrospective review of medical charts of patients who underwent primary total hip replacement (THR) for neck of femur fractures at our tertiary care level 1 trauma was carried out. Data was collected from the patients' charts and analysed for 30-day mortality and morbidity. A total of 96 patients were included in the study. Out of the 36 patients in the delayed THR group, mortality within 30 days was observed in 4 (11.1%) patients while none was noted in the early THR group. The difference was statistically significant with a P-value of 0.008. With regards to post-operative complications, significantly higher percentage of patients were noted to have developed electrolyte imbalances (P = 0.003), postoperative psychosis (P = 0.02), and acute kidney injury (AKI) (P = 0.02) in the delayed THR group compared to the early THR group. Delay in surgery for neck of femur fracture is associated with increased 30-day mortality and postoperative complications.