Hip fracture surgery in Nova Scotia: a comparison of treatment provided by "generalist" general surgeons and orthopedic surgeons.

OBJECTIVE To determine quality of hip fracture services provided by "generalist" general surgeons (generalists) in Nova Scotia. DESIGN Chart review and postoperative, blinded, random-ordered radiologic analysis. SETTING Three community hospitals and 1 tertiary care hospital in Nova Scotia. PARTICIPANTS Seven generalists who performed 120 hip fracture repairs and 7 orthopedic surgeons (specialists) who performed 135 hip fracture repairs. OUTCOME MEASURES Patient demographics, preoperative, perioperative, postoperative and discharge information, technical quality of reduction as determined through postoperative radiologic assessment. RESULTS There were no differences between patients treated by generalists and those treated by specialists with respect to age, sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists' class, level of function and fracture type. Intraoperatively, the patient groups were similar with respect to type of anesthesia, use of antibiotics, number of transfusions and surgical complications. Significant differences were noted in length of operation (54.4 v. 41.1 minutes), use of C-arm imaging (6.7% v. 85.9%) and management of Garden classes 1 and 2 subcapital fractures. Postoperatively, the 2 groups had similar numbers of medical complications, wound complications, reoperations, readmissions and deaths, and a similar level of function on discharge. Significant differences included the number of intensive care unit admissions (5.8% v. 15.6%) and length of stay there (5.7 v. 2.8 days) and of postoperative stay (14.5 v. 10.7 days). The assessment of radiographs did not demonstrate any significant difference in the quality of reduction. CONCLUSION In Nova Scotia the outcomes of hip fracture surgery performed by generalists are comparable to those performed by specialists.