Length of hospital stay following hip fracture and risk of 30 and 90 day mortality in a United Kingdom cohort.

A recent study identified a length of stay (LOS) of 10 days or less following hip fracture is associated with increased risk of 30-day mortality. This effect has not been previously studied for 90-day mortality or in the United Kingdom (UK). Our aim was to investigate the effect of LOS on 30-day and 90-day mortality following hip fracture in a UK population. In this single-centre study, we retrospectively identified consecutive patients with a hip fracture from the National Hip Fracture Database over 3 years. We excluded patients who died as inpatient during their index admission. The main end-points were 30-day and 90-day mortalities and risk factors for these were examined using stepwise univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. Of 1228 patients, mortality at 30-days was 1.2% (15 patients) and 7.8% (96 patients) at 90-days. Mean LOS was 24 days and a total of 206 patients had a LOS of 10 days or less. Following cariate analysis, the highest risk factor for 30-day mortality was a LOS of 10 days or less with a hazard ratio of 7.26 (95% confidence interval 2.56-20.51). Other risk factors for 30-day mortality included increasing age, male gender and chest infection. A LOS of 10 days or less was not associated with increased mortality at 90-days. A short LOS was associated with higher risk of early mortality. We recommend that hip fracture patients be fully rehabilitated prior to discharge to reduce the risk of early mortality.

The effect of computerised tomography on operative planning in posterior malleolus ankle fractures.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this project was to analyse whether a CT influences surgical planning in ankle fracture involving the posterior malleolus. METHODS: Twenty consecutive patients with fractures involving the posterior malleolus were retrospectively selected and had their plain radiographs and CT scan anonymised. Initially, radiographs alone were presented to nine trauma surgeons to formulate a surgical plan individually. After a minimum of 6 weeks, the same process was repeated with CT scans available. RESULTS: The surgical approach for ankle fracture fixation changed in 32.7% of cases following CT scan review. A CT scan altered the decision to stabilise the posterior malleolus in 25.6% and the decision of whether to stabilise the syndesmosis in 16.6% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that a pre-operative CT scan changes the surgical approach in 32.7% of cases and therefore we recommend use of CT scanning in this subset of ankle injuries.

Short-term risk factors for a second hip fracture in a UK population.

INTRODUCTION: A hip fracture carries significant morbidity and mortality-a second fracture of the contralateral hip carries even higher complications. Most second hip fractures occur within 48 months of the first. The aim of this study was to comprehensively analyse all identifiable variables that may increase the risk of a contralateral hip fracture within this time period. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed 1242 consecutive patients with hip fractures presenting to our institution. All patient-related, surgery-related and inpatient variables were collected from the index admission. We then identified patients with a subsequent contralateral hip fracture in the following 2 years. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors associated with a second fracture. RESULTS: A total of 66 patients (5.3%) had a contralateral hip fracture in the 2 years following initial hip fracture. Mean age at first presentation was 81 years, and mean time to second fracture was 305 days. Following multivariate analysis, the patients at highest risk of a second fracture were those with dementia, acute inpatient chest infection, urinary tract infection and multiple comorbidities as measured by the Charlson score. Discharge destination after initial fracture was not associated with the risk of a second fracture. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified a number of discrete risk factors that are associated with a short- to medium-term risk of contralateral hip fracture that may be useful in screening for patients at risk and provide them with focused medical rehabilitation.

Templating Hip Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Different methods have been developed and employed with variable degrees of success in pre-operative templating for total hip arthroplasty. Preoperative templating, especially digital templating, has been claimed to have increased the effectiveness of total hip arthroplasty by improving the precision of prediction of prosthetic implant size. AIMS: The overall aim of this systematic review is to identify whether the use of pre-operative templating in total hip arthroplasty procedures has resulted in increased accuracy, reliability and precision of the procedure. Various methods of templating, like traditional acetate overlay and digital method of templating that includes a single radiographic marker and double radiographic marker methods, have been compared to establish the most reliable method of templating. METHODS: We searched the PubMed, Google Scholar Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and MEDLINE (1966 to present), EMBASE (1980 to present), CINAHL (1982 to present), Psych INFO (1967 to present) and Clinical Trials Gov. CONCLUSION: The results of this systemic review suggest that preoperative templating is resulting in an enormous increase in the accuracy of total hip arthroplasty and among various methods, King Mark is the most reliable method.

Early mortality and morbidity following a type II odontoid fracture in the elderly.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to analyse the rates of early and causes of death in patients aged over 65 years with a type II odontoid fracture. METHODS: A consecutive series of 93 patients with a type II fracture of the odontoid process was retrospectively identified. Data collected included patient demographics, co-morbidities, associated injuries, neurological injury, date of death and cause of death. Mean patient age was 81. Five patients (5%) were treated operatively while the rest were treated in a hard cervical collar. Five patients (5%) had an incomplete cervical cord injury secondary to the fracture. RESULTS: The rate of mortality at 30 days was 10% (9 patients) and at 90 days it was 16% (15 patients). Following multivariate analysis, the factors found to significantly increase the risk of 30-day mortality included increasing age, increasing injury severity score and leukaemia. Following univariate analysis the only factor found to increase the risk of 90-day mortality was advancing age. The commonest causes of death were pneumonia and ischaemic coronary disease. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that this patient cohort is frail and at risk of early mortality. We suggest that their inpatient care be provided in close conjunction with elderly care physicians.

There is no weekend effect in hip fracture surgery - A comprehensive analysis of outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that some patient groups suffer adverse outcomes if they are acutely admitted to hospital over a weekend. We aimed to investigate this 'weekend effect' at our centre in patients presenting with a hip fracture. METHODS: Consecutive patients undergoing acute hip fracture surgery were identified from a prospective database. Patient demographics, co-morbidities, fracture type, admission blood parameters were examined. Outcomes analysed included 30-day, 90-day and 1-year mortality as well as length of stay, re-operations and delay to surgery. The data were analysed with regards to day of admission and day of surgery separately. RESULTS: A total of 1326 patients were included, of which 368 patients were admitted over a weekend and 411 patients had their operation over a weekend. Overall 30-day mortality was 7.6% (101 patients), whilst the 90-day and 1-year mortalities were 15.3% and 26.8% (203 and 356 patients). There were no significant differences in any of the outcomes based on the day of admission or the day of surgery. Multivariate analysis for 30-day mortality demonstrated the following variables to be significant predictors: admission urea levels (hazard ratio (HR) 1.042, p = 0.027), age (HR 1.058, p < 0.001), admission source (HR 1.428, p < 0.001), surgical delay >48 h (HR 1.853, p = 0.004), male gender (HR 1.967, p = 0.003), previous stroke (HR 2.261, p = 0.038), acute chest infection (4.240, p < 0.001) and chronic liver disease (HR 4.581, p = 0.014). CONCLUSION: This data suggests that there is no significant weekend effect in hip fracture surgery and mortality is affected by patient co-morbidities and delay to surgery.

Birmingham Mid-Head Resection Periprosthetic Fracture.

Total hip arthroplasty in the young leads to difficult choices in implant selection. Until recently bone conserving options were not available for younger patients with deficient femoral head bone stock. The novel Birmingham Mid-Head Resection (BMHR) device offers the option of bone conserving arthroplasty in spite of deficient femoral head bone stock. Femoral neck fracture is a known complication of standard resurfacing arthroplasty and is the most common reason for revision. It is unknown whether this remains to be the case for the BMHR neck preserving implants. We report a case of a 57-year-old male, who sustained a periprosthetic fracture following surgery with a BMHR arthroplasty. This paper illustrates the first reported case of a BMHR periprosthetic fracture. The fracture pattern is spiral in nature and reaches to the subtrochanteric area. This fracture pattern is different from published cadaveric studies, and clinicians using this implant should be aware of this as revision is likely to require a distally fitting, rather than a metaphyseal fitting stem. We have illustrated the surgical technique to manage this rare complication.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin osteomyelitis in children: a growing threat.

Panton-Valentine leukocidin-producing Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis is associated with multiple complications including multiple abscesses, deep vein thrombosis and fulminant sepsis. This article reviews the literature concerning this emerging threat which is currently under-recognized.