ABSTRACT
Introduction: The multidisciplinary model of management for fragility hip fractures has only been recently introduced in the Philippines. Its development at the national and local level is made more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive report on the clinical characteristics, current management and early outcomes of fragility hip fracture patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the setting of a country with an emerging economy. Methods: A multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted in the Philippines involving 12 hospitals from June 16, 2020 to February 28, 2021 during the Extended Community Quarantine Period during the COVID-19 pandemic. The clinico-demographic characteristics, treatments, and follow-up data at 30 days post-injury were gathered using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCAP) database system, using a minimum common data (MCD) which was adopted from the FFN MCD. Results: A total of 158 elderly patients (>60 years old) with fragility hip fractures were eligible for the study. 9 patients (5.7%) were confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19 infection. The median time of injury-to-admission was at least 3 (IQR: 1.0-13.7) days. 80% of the patients underwent surgical intervention with a median time from admission-to-surgery of at least 5 (IQR: 2.5-13.6) days. Notably, all non-COVID admitted patients had not been reported to have contracted the virus during their hospital stay. The 30-day mortality and morbidity rate for acute fragility fractures were 3.7%. Only the presence of a COVID-19 infection was found to be an independent and poor predictor for early mortality (P = 0.010). Conservatively managed patients had a significantly higher morbidity rate than surgically treated patients (13.6% vs 1.8%;P = 0.031). All five deaths occurred in non-surgical patients with an ASA grade of at least III. Conclusion: We recommend prompt admission and multidisciplinary care for elderly hip fracture patients even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Short-term outcomes remain favorable for non-COVID patients with acute fragility fractures treated with surgery. While a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection was the only significant and independent pre-operative risk factor for early mortality, there is evidence in the literature as well as in this study that the benefit of surgery may well outweigh the risk of conservatively treating COVID-19 patients provided that they can be optimized appropriately for surgery.