Intracapsular hip fractures have poorer nutritional status and more complications than trochanteric fractures: A retrospective study of 255 Thai patients.

ABSTRACT

Poor nutritional status which is found in many hip fracture patients may be one explanation for their increased morbidity and mortality. A retrospective study was performed to study the nutritional profile in Thai patients with hip fracture who had been admitted to Siriraj Hospital from January 2005 to March 2006. The parameter that was used to determine the nutritional profile was the level of albumin. The nutritional differences in hip fractures were assessed. The incidence of protein depletion was significantly higher in patients with trochanteric hip fractures than patients with intracapsular hip fractures. However, the average serum albumin level was significantly lower in patients with the intracapsular fractures than patients with trochanteric fractures. In addition, we found that a moderate level of malnutrition was related to post-operative complications in patients with the intracapsular hip fractures. Therefore, the higher complication rates in patients with intracapsular fractures than in patients with trochanteric fractures may be caused by the poorer nutritional status.