ABSTRACT
Objective: We investigated whether elderly patients treated for a proximal femoral fracture would be able to return home.Patients and Methods: The subjects of this study were 834 patients. We defined the acute care hospital group as patients who returned home from the acute care hospital and the kaihukuki group as patients who were transferred from an acute care hospital to a rehabilitation hospital. We recorded the proportion of patients who returned home. We also analyzed walking ability and the Barthel index (BI) of patients.Results: After 2013, the proportion of patients who returned home from the acute care hospital fell below 20%. The proportion of patients who returned home from the kaihukuki hospital stayed within the 75–85% range. The BI before injury and at discharge was 86 and 76 points, respectively, in the acute care hospital group. The acute care hospital group included patients who walked without an aid before the injury or when leaving the hospital. In the kaihukuki group, the BI before an injury, at admission, and at discharge from the rehabilitation hospital was 85, 56, and 74 points, respectively. In the kaihukuki group, the ability of patients to walk recovered more slowly than that of patients in the acute care hospital group.Conclusion: Walking ability and BI are important factors for determining whether patients with a proximal femoral fracture are able to return home.
ABSTRACT
We investigated whether elderly patients who were treated for proximal femoral fracture and who lived with an elderly spouse in the community were able to return home and walk. We identified 85 patients aged over 65 years with proximal femoral fracture treated between January 2007 and December 2013 who were living with only their spouse. We recorded the number (proportion) of patients who were directly discharged to home and the duration of hospitalization, and their walking ability before the injury and at the time of discharge. We also investigated whether dementia and age affected the ability to return home. Thirty-two patients (36%) returned home directly from an acute care hospital, and 35 patients (83%) returned home directly from a rehabilitation hospital. The mean duration of hospitalization was 31 days (range, 17-71 days) at an acute care hospital, and 61 days (range, 5-143 days) at a rehabilitation hospital. The walking ability of all patients was worse at the time of discharge. Dementia and increasing age were each associated with not being able to return home.
ABSTRACT
We report a case of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) accompanied by steroid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head in a 68-year-old woman. Extremely low platelet counts of ITP patients prohibit any surgical interventions. Her platelet count was 25,000/μL. We performed a total hip arthroplasty with high-dose immunoglobulin therapy and transfusion of platelet concentrates. Her platelet count increased to 94,000/μL just before the operation. No hemostatic complications were encountered perioperatively, and the postoperative course was uneventful. She left the hospital 20 days after the operation with a T-cane. Her platelet count decreased to 34,000/μL on the day she left the hospital. Three years after the operation, she had no groin pain and could walk without ambulatory assistive devices. We did not observe implant loosening.
ABSTRACT
In the future, we will have more aged patients, more cases of bilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA) and more cases of bilateral revision THA. There are not, however, many reports of long-term follow-up of bilateral revision THA. We report a case of bilateral revision THA followed up for 11 years. A 74-year-old woman presented with bilateral painful hip in 1996. She had undergone left THA in 1984 and right THA in 1986 at another hospital. Her JOA(Japan Orthopaedic Association) scores on her first visit (right/left) were 32 points/31 points. Plain radiographs revealed a clear zone in her bilateral proximal femur. We diagnosed her as having looseness of bilateral THA. She required bilateral revision THA and underwent left revision THA (Charnley) in January 1997 (14 years after the original operation) and right revision THA (Charnley) in July 1997 (12 years after the original operation). After bilateral revision THA, we were able to follow up this patient for 11 years. She had no complaints about her bilateral hip joints, and X-ray examination showed no looseness. The JOA scores and range of motion illustrate the good result achieved for this case.