Delay in hip fracture surgery and its outcomes. A reflection / Retraso en cirugía de fractura de cadera y sus desenlaces. Una reflexión

Abstract Hip fracture is one of the major public healthcare problems in elderly patients around the world, mainly because of the risk of falls and osteoporosis which are typical during this stage of life, and may be the cause for up to 36% of deaths among those affected. Its management in principle is surgical and the best results are achieved with patients undergoing surgery during the first 24 to 72 hours after the fracture. Any delays in surgery are mostly associated with decompensated personal pathological factors, delays in perioperative assessment, or in presurgical complementary tests; sometimes, the delays are the result of administrative formalities of the healthcare providers. These determining factors may affect both morbidity and mortality, and contribute to functional decline, disability, and reduced quality of life of these patients. A third party intervention is then necessary to improve the preventable factors that delay the osteosynthesis in these types of fractures, in addition to ensuring education, infrastructure, inputs, skilled human resources, and prompt referral of patients from the first level of care. Investigating this scenario and assessing the quality of life impact on these patients should be a priority.

Resumen La fractura de cadera representa uno de los problemas de salud pública más grandes en los pacientes ancianos en todo el mundo, principalmente, por el riesgo de caídas y la osteoporosis típicos en esta etapa de la vida, que puede causar la muerte de hasta el 36 % de los afectados; su manejo es en principio quirúrgico y los mejores resultados se presentan cuando se interviene en las primeras 24 a 72 horas después de la fractura. El retraso en la corrección quirúrgica está asociado principalmente a factores patológicos personales no compensados, demora en la valoración perioperatoria o en los estudios complementarios prequirúrgicos, o por trámites administrativos de las empresas prestadoras de servicios de salud. Estos determinantes pueden afectar la morbimortalidad y contribuir a un deterioro funcional, incapacidad y pérdida de la calidad de vida de estos pacientes. Se hace necesaria una intervención por parte de terceros para mejorar los factores prevenibles que retrasan la osteosíntesis de este tipo de fracturas; además, asegurar educación, infraestructura, insumos, talento humano capacitado y remisión rápida de pacientes desde el primer nivel de atención. Investigar en este escenario y evaluar los efectos en la calidad de vida de estos pacientes debería ser una prioridad.

Morbimortalidad posterior a fracturas intertrocantéricas de cadera. Efecto del retraso en el tratamiento quirúrgico / Morbidity and mortality after delayed surgical treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures

Introducción La tendencia mundial es realizar cirugía temprana en el manejo de las fracturas intertrocantéricas de cadera con el objetivo de disminuir mortalidad y complicaciones postoperatorias, pero los resultados no son concluyentes y el consenso mundial está basado en evidencia de moderada y baja calidad. El objetivo del estudio es evaluar si existen diferencias en mortalidad y tiempo de estancia hospitalaria postoperatoria en pacientes intervenidos quirúrgicamente antes y después de las 48 horas del ingreso hospitalario. Materiales y métodos Estudio retrospectivo de los pacientes operados por fracturas intertrocantéricas entre 2007 y 2013 con datos extraídos de historias clínicas y encuestas telefónicas. Se realizó un análisis de supervivencia a los 6 y 12 meses con el método estadístico Kaplan Meier y Log-Rank-test. Para comparar las proporciones de mortalidad y las medias entre grupos se utilizó X2 y t student respectivamente. Resultados La mortalidad a los 6 meses en el grupo de cirugía temprana alcanzó el 2,9% y en cirugía tardía, el 15,1% (p=0,02). La estancia hospitalaria disminuyó 5 días en los pacientes operados antes de 48 horas (p=0,008). No se puso de manifiesto diferencia estadísticamente significativa en la mortalidad al año en los grupos comparados. Discusión En el estudio se evidenció menor porcentaje de mortalidad a los 6 meses de la intervención quirúrgica y disminución en la estancia hospitalaria postoperatoria en el grupo de cirugía temprana. Respecto a la bibliografía mundial, la cirugía temprana tiene mayor repercusión en mortalidad en el primer semestre. Nivel de evidencia clínica. Nivel III.

Background The global trend is to perform early surgery in the treatment of hip fractures, with the objective of reducing mortality and post-surgery complications. As the global consensus is based on evidence of moderate and low quality, the results are not conclusive. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether there are differences in mortality and postoperative hospital stay in operated patients before and after 48 hours of hospital admission. Materials and methods Retrospective study was conducted on patients admitted to a trauma centre with a diagnosis of intertrochanteric fracture between 2007 and 2013. Data was extracted from clinical records and using telephone surveys. A survival analysis at 6 and 12 months was performed using the Kaplan Meier test and Log-Rank-test. The chi-squared test was used to compare the mortality percentages and the Student t test used to compare means between groups. Results Mortality at 6 months in the early surgery group was 2.9%, and 15.1% (p=.02) in the late surgery group. Hospital stay decreased by 5 days in patients operated before 48 hours (p=.008). There was no statistically significant difference in mortality at one year between the compared groups. Discussion The study showed a lower percentage of post-surgical mortality at 6 months, and a decrease in the post-surgical hospital stay in the early surgery group. According to literature, early surgery has the greatest impact on mortality during the first 6 months after the intervention. Evidence level. III.

Delay Phenomenon by Botulinum Toxin A in Transverse Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous (TRAM) Flap of Rat

Currently, delay procedures remain a reliable method of maximizing flap survival but the necessity of additional procedures is a persistent disadvantage. Botulinum toxin A (BTXA) is considered to exert the most powerful neuromuscular blockade. In this study, BTXA is used to demonstrate the usefulness of a chemical delay technique. Thirty rats were subdivided into three groups of 10. In the group 1(control), no procedure was performed before the transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap elevation. In the group 2 (surgical delay), TRAM flaps were delayed surgically one week before formal elevation. And, in the group 3 (BTXA delay) rats, 4U BTXA was injected into the under surface of TRAM flaps two weeks before surgical elevation. The TRAM flaps were designed in rectangular shape, on the rat abdomen. On the seventh day after operation, the results were evaluated and compared in terms of flap survival area, vessel counts and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. The mean percentages of the flap survival area in group 2 (71.76+/-.86%) and group 3 (73.92+/-.70%) were significantly higher than those in group 1 (34.60+/-.14%) (p<0.05). The vessel counts of group 2 (13.90+/-.18) and group 3 (15.40+/-.88%) were significantly higher than those of group 1 (5.10+/-.20) (p<0.05). The VEGF expression is increased in two experimental groups than in the control group. In conclusion, the injection of BTXA could increase flap survival area in rat TRAM flap model, as likely as surgical delay. These results are thought to be made due to the effect of chemodenervation and secondary inflammation.

The Effects the Composite Differences of the Transferred Vascular Tissues and the Surgical Delay on the Vascularization of the Prefabricated Cutaneous Flap

This study was designed to investigate the effect of the surgical delay in the prefabricated cutaneous flap. Abdominal skin flaps (n=40), 4.5x6.0cm in size, were created by the subcutaneous implantation of a saphenous vascular tissue in the male Sprague-Dawley rats. In the groups 1 and 2, the pedicle was skeletonized. In the groups 3 and 4, perivascular muscle cuff or gracilis fascia was retained, respectively. Six weeks later, each flap was elevated as an island flap and reposed in place. All flaps of the group 2 had a 72-hours of delay period. Five days after the flap repositioning, estimation of flap viability, microangiographies, and histological evaluation of vessel development were performed. The groups 2 and 3 showed higher viability in flap survival. The dilated choke vessels and fully developed vascular network were observed in the flap of the group 2, but not typically seen in the other groups. New vessels around the implanted pedicle were more developed in the group 2. Amount of the vessels in the mid-portion of the flap was significantly increased in the groups 2 and 4. In conclusion, the delay procedure enhanced the viability, and its effect was dependent on the new vessel formation around the implanted pedicle.

Effect of Prostaglandin E1 and the Surgical Delay on the Survival of the Transverse Rectus Abdominis Musculocutaneous Flap in the Diabetic Rat

Transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap is one of the best flap in breast reconstruction. Even though many trials have been attempted to increase the rate of the flap survival, the necrosis of distal flap area due to vascular compromise is troublesome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prostaglandin E1(PGE1), surgical delay and the combined procedure on TRAM flap survival rate in vascular compromised rat by diabetes. Left inferior epigastric vessel pedicled TRAM flaps(5.0 x 2.5 cm) were elevated in 40 Sprague-Dawley rats. In control group(N=10), there was no procedure before the flap elevation. In surgical delay group(N=10), the left superior epigastric vessels and the contralateral rectus perforators were ligated 2 weeks before the flap elevation. In PGE1 injection group(N=10), PGE1(0.5microgram) was given intraperitoneally for 2 weeks before the flap elevation daily. In combined procedure group(N=10), the same surgical delay and injection of PGE1 were done simultaneously. On the seventh postoperative day, we evaluated and compared the flap survival rates, the vessel distribution status through Microfil casts, the vessel area rates by histomorphometric analysis in each group. The results were as follows 1) The mean percentages of surviving flap areas of surgical delay group(73.41+/- 10.43%), PGE1 injection group(68.95 +/- 7.13%) and combined procedure group(79.39 +/- 13.44%) were greater than that of control group(44.85 +/- 18.08%) with a statistical significance(p< 0.05). 2) The vessel distributions of each procedure group were more abundant than those of control group in Microfil casts. 3) The mean percentages of vessel areas of surgical delay group(2.74 +/- 0.23%), PGE1 injection group(2.58 +/- 0.49%) and combined procedure group(3.15+/- 0.25) were greater than that of control group(1.24 +/- 0.40%) with a statistical significance(p< 0.05). The results indicated that PGE1 injection or surgical delay procedure could be used to increase the TRAM flap survival area in diabetic condition and the effect of PGE1 was comparable to that of surgical delay procedure. But, the synergistic effect of surgical delay and PGE1 injection was not observed statistically.